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Top 500 Harper Lee Quotes (2026 Update)
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Harper Lee Quote: “I guess when you’re hurt your first instinct’s to hurt back.”

251. “I guess when you’re hurt your first instinct’s to hurt back.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Matches were dangerous, but cards were fatal.”

252. “Matches were dangerous, but cards were fatal.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Scout Finch, juvenile desperado, hellraiser extraordinary.”

253. “Scout Finch, juvenile desperado, hellraiser extraordinary.”

Harper Lee Quote: “When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it.”

254. “When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Every man’s island, Jean Louise, every man’s watchman, is his conscience.”

255. “Every man’s island, Jean Louise, every man’s watchman, is his conscience.”

Harper Lee Quote: “I fall in love everyday, with ideas and sensations, people I see. I hold them long enough to let them go, but I keep them in my heart and in my soul.”

256. “I fall in love everyday, with ideas and sensations, people I see. I hold them long enough to let them go, but I keep them in my heart and in my soul.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Cry about the simple hell people give other people – without even thinking.”

257. “Cry about the simple hell people give other people – without even thinking.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Don’t push her. Let her go at her own speed. Push her and every mule in the county’d be easier to live with.”

258. “Don’t push her. Let her go at her own speed. Push her and every mule in the county’d be easier to live with.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Weeping for Anna Karenina and being terrified by Hannibal Lecter, entering the heart of darkness with Mistah Kurtz, having Holden Caulfield ring you up – some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal.”

259. “Weeping for Anna Karenina and being terrified by Hannibal Lecter, entering the heart of darkness with Mistah Kurtz, having Holden Caulfield ring you up – some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal.”

Harper Lee Quote: “When you live in New York, you often have the feeling that New York’s not the world. I mean this: every time I come home, I feel like I’m coming back to the world, and when I leave Maycomb it’s like leaving the world.”

260. “When you live in New York, you often have the feeling that New York’s not the world. I mean this: every time I come home, I feel like I’m coming back to the world, and when I leave Maycomb it’s like leaving the world.”

Harper Lee Quote: “I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means, to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference.”

261. “I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means, to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Hell is eternal apartness. What had she done that she must spend the rest of her years reaching out with yearning for them, making secret trips to long ago, making no journey to the present? I am their blood and bones, I have dug in this ground, this is my home. But I am not their blood, the ground doesn’t care who digs it, I am a stranger at a cocktail party.”

262. “Hell is eternal apartness. What had she done that she must spend the rest of her years reaching out with yearning for them, making secret trips to long ago, making no journey to the present? I am their blood and bones, I have dug in this ground, this is my home. But I am not their blood, the ground doesn’t care who digs it, I am a stranger at a cocktail party.”

Harper Lee Quote: “I could think of nothing else to say to her. In fact I could never think of anything to say to her, and I sat thinking of past painful conversations between us: How are you, Jean Louise? Fine, thank you ma’am, how are you? Very well, thank you; what have you been doing with yourself? Nothin’. Don’t you do anything? Nome. Certainly you have friends? Yessum. Well what do you all do? Nothin’.”

263. “I could think of nothing else to say to her. In fact I could never think of anything to say to her, and I sat thinking of past painful conversations between us: How are you, Jean Louise? Fine, thank you ma’am, how are you? Very well, thank you; what have you been doing with yourself? Nothin’. Don’t you do anything? Nome. Certainly you have friends? Yessum. Well what do you all do? Nothin’.”

Harper Lee Quote: “I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants.”

264. “I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants.”

Harper Lee Quote: “You can pet him, Mr. Arthur. He’s asleep...”

265. “You can pet him, Mr. Arthur. He’s asleep...”

Harper Lee Quote: “Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced.”

266. “Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced.”

Harper Lee Quote: “She was easy to look at and easy to be with most of the time, but she was in no sense of the word an easy person. She was afflicted with a restlessness of spirit he could not guess at, but he knew she was the one for him.”

267. “She was easy to look at and easy to be with most of the time, but she was in no sense of the word an easy person. She was afflicted with a restlessness of spirit he could not guess at, but he knew she was the one for him.”

Harper Lee Quote: “The Lord never sends you more than you can bear –.”

268. “The Lord never sends you more than you can bear –.”

Harper Lee Quote: “I’d be churched to death, bridge-partied to death, called upon to give book reviews at the Amanuensis Club, expected to become a part of the community. It takes a lot of what I don’t have to be a member of this wedding.”

269. “I’d be churched to death, bridge-partied to death, called upon to give book reviews at the Amanuensis Club, expected to become a part of the community. It takes a lot of what I don’t have to be a member of this wedding.”

Harper Lee Quote: “If you did not want much, there was plenty.”

270. “If you did not want much, there was plenty.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Had she insight, could she have pierced the barriers of her highly selective, insular world, she may have discovered that all her life she had been with a visual defect which had gone unnoticed and neglected by herself and by those closest to her: she was born color blind.”

271. “Had she insight, could she have pierced the barriers of her highly selective, insular world, she may have discovered that all her life she had been with a visual defect which had gone unnoticed and neglected by herself and by those closest to her: she was born color blind.”

Harper Lee Quote: “People have a habit of doing everyday things even under the oddest conditions.”

272. “People have a habit of doing everyday things even under the oddest conditions.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Jem,” I asked, “what’s a mixed child?” “Half white, half colored. You’ve seen ’em, Scout. You know that red-kinky-headed one that delivers for the drugstore. He’s half white. They’re real sad.” “Sad, how come?” “They don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have ’em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ’em ’cause they’re colored, so they’re just in-betweens, don’t belong anywhere.”

273. “Jem,” I asked, “what’s a mixed child?” “Half white, half colored. You’ve seen ’em, Scout. You know that red-kinky-headed one that delivers for the drugstore. He’s half white. They’re real sad.” “Sad, how come?” “They don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have ’em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ’em ’cause they’re colored, so they’re just in-betweens, don’t belong anywhere.”

Harper Lee Quote: “You’re color blind, Jean Louise,” he said. “You always have been, you always will be. The only differences you see between one human and another are differences in looks and intelligence and character and the like. You’ve never been prodded to look at people as a race, and now that race is the burning issue of the day, you’re still unable to think racially. You see only people.”

274. “You’re color blind, Jean Louise,” he said. “You always have been, you always will be. The only differences you see between one human and another are differences in looks and intelligence and character and the like. You’ve never been prodded to look at people as a race, and now that race is the burning issue of the day, you’re still unable to think racially. You see only people.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Clowns are sad, it’s folks that laugh at them.”

275. “Clowns are sad, it’s folks that laugh at them.”

Harper Lee Quote: “If a man says to you, “This is the truth,” and you believe him, and you discover what he says is not the truth, you are disappointed and you make sure you will not be caught by him again. But a man who has lived the truth – and you have believed in what he has lived – he does not leave you merely wary when he fails you, he leaves you with nothing.”

276. “If a man says to you, “This is the truth,” and you believe him, and you discover what he says is not the truth, you are disappointed and you make sure you will not be caught by him again. But a man who has lived the truth – and you have believed in what he has lived – he does not leave you merely wary when he fails you, he leaves you with nothing.”

Harper Lee Quote: “I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means, to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference. I need a watchman to go forth and proclaim to them all that twenty-six years is too long to play a joke on anybody, no matter how funny it is.”

277. “I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means, to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference. I need a watchman to go forth and proclaim to them all that twenty-six years is too long to play a joke on anybody, no matter how funny it is.”

Harper Lee Quote: “We saw Uncle Jack every Christmas, and every Christmas he yelled across the street for Miss Maudie to come marry him. Miss Mauide would yell back, “Call a little louder, Jack Finch, and they’ll hear you the post office, I haven’t heard you yet!” Jem and I thought this a strange way to ask for a lady’s hand in marriage, but then again Uncle Jack was rather strange.”

278. “We saw Uncle Jack every Christmas, and every Christmas he yelled across the street for Miss Maudie to come marry him. Miss Mauide would yell back, “Call a little louder, Jack Finch, and they’ll hear you the post office, I haven’t heard you yet!” Jem and I thought this a strange way to ask for a lady’s hand in marriage, but then again Uncle Jack was rather strange.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Boo and I walked up the steps to the porch. His fingers found the doorknob. He gently released my hand, opened the door, enter inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again.”

279. “Boo and I walked up the steps to the porch. His fingers found the doorknob. He gently released my hand, opened the door, enter inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again.”

Harper Lee Quote: “I thought women liked to be thought strange and mysterious.” “No, they just like to look strange and mysterious. When you get past all the boa feathers, every woman born in this world wants a strong man who knows her like a book, who’s not only her lover but he who keepeth Israel.”

280. “I thought women liked to be thought strange and mysterious.” “No, they just like to look strange and mysterious. When you get past all the boa feathers, every woman born in this world wants a strong man who knows her like a book, who’s not only her lover but he who keepeth Israel.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Its when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win but sometimes you do.”

281. “Its when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win but sometimes you do.”

Harper Lee Quote: “She heard her father’s voice, a tiny voice talking in the warm comfortable past. Gentlemen, if there’s one slogan in this world I believe, it is this: equal rights for all, special privileges for none.”

282. “She heard her father’s voice, a tiny voice talking in the warm comfortable past. Gentlemen, if there’s one slogan in this world I believe, it is this: equal rights for all, special privileges for none.”

Harper Lee Quote: “He was as good as his worst performance; his worst performance was Gothic.”

283. “He was as good as his worst performance; his worst performance was Gothic.”

Harper Lee Quote: “The only thing I’m afraid of about this country is that its government will someday become so monstrous that the smallest person in it will be trampled underfoot, and then it wouldn’t be worth living in.”

284. “The only thing I’m afraid of about this country is that its government will someday become so monstrous that the smallest person in it will be trampled underfoot, and then it wouldn’t be worth living in.”

Harper Lee Quote: “So maybe I’ll spend some years in prison, but you’ll have a big head start on me in hell!”

285. “So maybe I’ll spend some years in prison, but you’ll have a big head start on me in hell!”

Harper Lee Quote: “They fought to preserve their identity. Their political identity, their personal identity.”

286. “They fought to preserve their identity. Their political identity, their personal identity.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Have you ever been snubbed, Atticus? Do you know how it feels? No, don’t tell me they’re children and don’t feel it: I was a child and felt it, so grown children must feel, too. A real good snub, Atticus, makes you feel like you’re too nasty to associate with people. How they’re as good as they are now is a mystery to me, after a hundred years of systematic denial that they’re human. I wonder what kind of miracle we could work with a week’s decency.”

287. “Have you ever been snubbed, Atticus? Do you know how it feels? No, don’t tell me they’re children and don’t feel it: I was a child and felt it, so grown children must feel, too. A real good snub, Atticus, makes you feel like you’re too nasty to associate with people. How they’re as good as they are now is a mystery to me, after a hundred years of systematic denial that they’re human. I wonder what kind of miracle we could work with a week’s decency.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Hell is eternal apartness. What had she done that she must spend the rest of her years reaching out with yearning for them, making secret trips to long ago, making no journey to the present?”

288. “Hell is eternal apartness. What had she done that she must spend the rest of her years reaching out with yearning for them, making secret trips to long ago, making no journey to the present?”

Harper Lee Quote: “Why doesn’t their flesh creep? How can they devoutly believe everything they hear in church and then say the things they do and listen to the things they hear without throwing up? I thought I was a Christian but I’m not. I’m something else and I don’t know what.”

289. “Why doesn’t their flesh creep? How can they devoutly believe everything they hear in church and then say the things they do and listen to the things they hear without throwing up? I thought I was a Christian but I’m not. I’m something else and I don’t know what.”

Harper Lee Quote: “In other words, all I want to be is the Jane Austen of south Alabama.”

290. “In other words, all I want to be is the Jane Austen of south Alabama.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Recorded history’s version does not coincide with the truth, but these are the facts, because they were passed down by word of mouth through the years, and every Maycombian knows them.”

291. “Recorded history’s version does not coincide with the truth, but these are the facts, because they were passed down by word of mouth through the years, and every Maycombian knows them.”

Harper Lee Quote: “We wondered, sometimes, when your conscience and his would part company, and over what.” Dr. Finch smiled. “Well, we know now. I’m just thankful I was around when the ructions started. Atticus couldn’t talk to you the way I’m talking – ” “Why not, sir?” “You wouldn’t have listened to him. You couldn’t have listened. Our gods are remote from us, Jean Louise. They must never descend to human level.”

292. “We wondered, sometimes, when your conscience and his would part company, and over what.” Dr. Finch smiled. “Well, we know now. I’m just thankful I was around when the ructions started. Atticus couldn’t talk to you the way I’m talking – ” “Why not, sir?” “You wouldn’t have listened to him. You couldn’t have listened. Our gods are remote from us, Jean Louise. They must never descend to human level.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Autumn was her happiest season.”

293. “Autumn was her happiest season.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Hay hombres tan ocupados en acongojarse por el otro mundo que no han aprendido a vivir en este.”

294. “Hay hombres tan ocupados en acongojarse por el otro mundo que no han aprendido a vivir en este.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was-she goin’ down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her- she was talking with Miss Stephen Crawford. I heard her say it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us. Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home-.”

295. “Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was-she goin’ down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her- she was talking with Miss Stephen Crawford. I heard her say it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us. Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home-.”

Harper Lee Quote: “Why doesn’t their flesh creep? How can they devoutly believe everything they hear in church and then say the things they do and listen to the things they hear without throwing up? I thought I was a Christian but I’m not. I’m something else and I don’t know what. Everything I have ever taken for right and wrong these people have taught me – these same, these very people. So it’s me, it’s not them. Something has happened to me.”

296. “Why doesn’t their flesh creep? How can they devoutly believe everything they hear in church and then say the things they do and listen to the things they hear without throwing up? I thought I was a Christian but I’m not. I’m something else and I don’t know what. Everything I have ever taken for right and wrong these people have taught me – these same, these very people. So it’s me, it’s not them. Something has happened to me.”

Harper Lee Quote: “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

297. “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

Harper Lee Quote: “She answered: please believe me, what has happened in my family is not what you think. I can say only this – that everything I learned about human decency I learned here. I learned nothing from you except how to be suspicious. I didn’t know what hate was until I lived among you and saw you hating every day. They even had to pass laws to keep you from hating.”

298. “She answered: please believe me, what has happened in my family is not what you think. I can say only this – that everything I learned about human decency I learned here. I learned nothing from you except how to be suspicious. I didn’t know what hate was until I lived among you and saw you hating every day. They even had to pass laws to keep you from hating.”

Harper Lee Quote: “A man can be boiling inside, but he knows a mild answer works better than showing his rage. A man can condemn his enemies, but it’s wiser to know them.”

299. “A man can be boiling inside, but he knows a mild answer works better than showing his rage. A man can condemn his enemies, but it’s wiser to know them.”

Harper Lee Quote: “It’s just that I’m so afraid of making a mess of being married to the wrong man – the wrong kind for me, I mean. I’m no different from any other woman, and the wrong man would turn me into a screamin’ shrew in record time.”

300. “It’s just that I’m so afraid of making a mess of being married to the wrong man – the wrong kind for me, I mean. I’m no different from any other woman, and the wrong man would turn me into a screamin’ shrew in record time.”

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