To Kill a Mockingbird quotes compilations

To Kill a Mockingbird quotes compilations

To Kill a Mockingbird quotes compilations,Explanation of the famous quotes in To Kill a Mockingbird, including all important speeches, comments, quotations, and monologues.

1.
Atticus Finch: I remember when my daddy gave me that gun. He told me that I should never point it at anything in the house; and that he'd rather I'd shoot at tin cans in the backyard. But he said that sooner or later he supposed the temptation to go after birds would be too much, and that I could shoot all the blue jays I wanted – if I could hit 'em; but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Jem: Why?
Atticus Finch: Well, I reckon because mockingbirds don't do anything but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat people's gardens, don't nest in the corncrib, they don't do one thing but just sing their hearts out for us.

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2.
Bob Ewell: You nigger lover.
Atticus Finch: [to Jem] No need to be afraid of him, son. He's all bluff.
[after they get home]
Atticus Finch: There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible.

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3.
Atticus Finch: If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.

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4.
Atticus Finch: There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible.

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More To Kill a Mockingbird quotes…

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Enough good things can't be said about this movie. It is undoubtedly one of 

the best and most moving films ever made. No other racial injustice or 

discriminatory based movie can even compare with "To Kill a Mockingbird". 

This movie not only makes you sympathize with those who were being 

discriminated against, but also those who fought for those people. One of the 

most moving parts of the movie is when Atticus Finch is leaving the court 

room and Reverend Sykes tells Scout to "stand up your father is passing".

 

Atticus Finch: [his closing statement] To begin with, this case should never 

have come to trial. The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence 

that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place… It has relied 

instead upon the testimony of two witnesses, whose evidence has not only been 

called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly 

contradicted by the defendant. Now, there is circumstantial evidence to 

indicate that Mayella Ewel was beaten – savagely, by someone who led 

exclusively with his left. And Tom Robinson now sits before you having taken 

the oath with the only good hand he possesses… his RIGHT. I have nothing 

but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the State. She is the victim 

of cruel poverty and ignorance. But my pity does not extend so far as to her 

putting a man's life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of 

her own guilt. Now I say "guilt," gentlemen, because it was guilt that 

motivated her. She's committed no crime – she has merely broken a rigid and 

time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is 

hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. She must destroy the evidence 

of her offense. But what was the evidence of her offense? Tom Robinson, a 

human being. She must put Tom Robinson away from her. Tom Robinson was to her 

a daily reminder of what she did. Now, what did she do? She tempted a Negro. 

She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that, in our 

society, is unspeakable. She kissed a black man. Not an old uncle, but a 

strong, young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it 

came crashing down on her afterwards. The witnesses for the State, with the 

exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County have presented themselves to you 

gentlemen, to this court in the cynical confidence that their testimony would 

not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the 

assumption… the evil assumption that all Negroes lie, all Negroes are 

basically immoral beings, all Negro men are not to be trusted around our 

women. An assumption that one associates with minds of their caliber, and 

which is, in itself, gentlemen, a lie, which I do not need to point out to 

you. And so, a quiet, humble, respectable Negro, who has had the unmitigated 

TEMERITY to feel sorry for a white woman, has had to put his word against TWO 

white people's! The defendant is not guilty – but somebody in this courtroom 

is. Now, gentlemen, in this country, our courts are the great levelers. In 

our courts, all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe firmly in 

the integrity of our courts and of our jury system – that's no ideal to me. 

That is a living, working reality! Now I am confident that you gentlemen will 

review, without passion, the evidence that you have heard, come to a decision 

and restore this man to his family. In the name of GOD, do your duty. In the 

name of God, believe… Tom Robinson.

 

Atticus Finch: If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you'll get along a 

lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person 

until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of 

his skin and walk around in it.

 

Rev. Sykes: Miss Jean Louise. Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's 

passing.

 

Older Scout: [narrating] Neighbors bring food with death, and flowers with 

sickness, and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two 

soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a knife, and our lives.

 

Atticus Finch: I remember when my daddy gave me that gun. He told me that I 

should never point it at anything in the house; and that he'd rather I'd 

shoot at tin cans in the backyard. But he said that sooner or later he 

supposed the temptation to go after birds would be too much, and that I could 

shoot all the blue jays I wanted – if I could hit 'em; but to remember it was 

a sin to kill a mockingbird.
Jem: Why?
Atticus Finch: Well, I reckon because mockingbirds don't do anything but make 

music for us to enjoy. They don't eat people's gardens, don't nest in the 

corncrib, they don't do one thing but just sing their hearts out for us.

 

[Atticus on the porch overhearing their conversation]
Scout: How old was I when Mama died?
Jem: Two.
Scout: How old were you?
Jem: Six.
Scout: Old as I am now?
Jem: Uh-huh.
Scout: Was Mama pretty?
Jem: Uh-huh.
Scout: Was Mama nice?
Jem: Uh-huh.
Scout: Did you love her?
Jem: Yes.
Scout: Did I love her?
Jem: Yes.
Scout: Do you miss her?
Jem: Uh-huh.

 

Jem: Atticus says cheating a black man is ten times worse than cheating a 

white.

 

Jem: There goes the meanest man that ever took a breath of life.
Dill Harris: Why is he the meanest man?
Jem: Well, for one thing, he has a boy named Boo that he keeps chained to a 

bed in the house over yonder. Boo only comes out at night when you're asleep 

and it's pitch-dark. When you wake up at night, you can hear him. Once I 

heard him scratchin' on our screen door, but he was gone by the time Atticus 

got there.
Dill Harris: I wonder what he does in there? I wonder what he looks like?
Jem: Well, judgin' from his tracks, he's about six and a half feet tall. He 

eats raw squirrels and all the cats he can catch. There's a long, jagged scar 

that runs all the way across his face. His teeth are yella and rotten. His 

eyes are popped. And he drools most of the time.

 

Bob Ewell: I'm real sorry they picked you to defend that nigger that raped my 

Mayella. I don't know why I didn't kill him myself instead of goin' to the 

sheriff. That would have saved you and the sheriff and the taxpayers lots of 

trouble…

 

Calpurnia: That boy is your company. And if he wants to eat up that 

tablecloth, you let him, you hear? And if you can't act fit to eat like 

folks, you can just set here and eat in the kitchen.

 

Scout: I said, 'Hey,' Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment getting along?
[He turns and looks away]
Scout: Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I'm Jean Louise Finch. You 

brought us some hickory nuts one early morning, remember? We had a talk. I 

went and got my daddy to come out and thank you. I go to school with your 

boy. I go to school with Walter; he's a nice boy. Tell him 'hey' for me, 

won't you? You know something, Mr. Cunningham, entailments are bad. 

Entailments…
[She suddenly becomes self-conscious]
Scout: Atticus, I was just saying to Mr. Cunningham that entailments were bad 

but not to worry. Takes a long time sometimes…
[to the men who are staring up at her]
Scout: What's the matter? I sure meant no harm, Mr. Cunningham.

 

Scout: Why there he is, Mr. Tate. He can tell you his name…
[Looks at the man]
Scout: Hey, Boo.
Atticus Finch: [making introductions] Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley. I 

believe he already knows you.

 

[about Jem]
Scout: You can pet him, Mr. Arthur. He's asleep. Couldn't if he was awake, 

though; he wouldn't let you. Go ahead.

 

Atticus Finch: I must be losing my memory. I can't remember whether Jem is 

twelve or thirteen. Anyway it'll have to come before the county court. Of 

course it's a clear cut case of self defense. I'll ahh, well I'll run down to 

the office…
Sheriff Tate: Mr. Finch do you think Jem stabbed Bob Ewell – is that what you 

think? Your boy never killed anyone.
[Atticus and Sheriff Heck Tate look at Boo]
Sheriff Tate: Bob Ewell fell on his knife – he killed himself. There's a 

black man dead for no reason; now the man responsible for it is dead. Let the 

dead bury the dead this time, Mr. Finch. I never heard tell it was against 

the law for any citizen to do his utmost to prevent a crime from being 

committed, which is exactly what he did. But maybe you'll tell me it's my 

duty to tell the town all about it and not to hush it up. Well, you know 

what'll happen then? All the ladies in Maycomb, including my wife, will be 

knocking on his door bringing angel food cakes. To my way of thinking, taking 

the one man who's done you and this town a big service and dragging him with 

his shy ways into the limelight – to me that's a sin… it's a sin. And I'm 

not about to have it on my head. I may not be much Mr. Finch, but I'm still 

sheriff of Maycomb County and Bob Ewell fell on his knife. Good night, sir.

 

Bob Ewell: You nigger lover.
Atticus Finch: [to Jem] No need to be afraid of him, son. He's all bluff.
[after they get home]
Atticus Finch: There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I 

could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible.

 

Bob Ewell: What kinda man are you?

 

Scout: May I see your watch? "To Atticus, My Beloved Husband." Atticus, Jem 

says this watch is gonna belong to him some day.
Atticus Finch: That's right.
Scout: Why?
Atticus Finch: Well, it's customary for the boy to have his father's watch.
Scout: What are you gonna give me?
Atticus Finch: Well, I don't know that I have much else of value that belongs 

to me… But there's a pearl necklace; there's a ring that belonged to your 

mother. And I've put them away, and they're to be yours.

 

Tom Robinson: Looks like she didn't have nobody to help her. I felt right 

sorry for her. She seemed…
Prosecutor: You felt sorry for her? A white woman? You felt sorry for her?

 

Older Scout: [narrating] Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I 

first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men's stiff collars wilted by 

nine in the morning; ladies bathed before noon, after their 3 o'clock naps, 

and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and 

sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. There 

was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go and nothing to buy… and no money 

to buy it with. Although Maycomb County had recently been told that it had 

nothing to fear but fear itself… That summer, I was six years old.

 

[about Atticus]
Miss Maudie Atkinson: He can do plenty of things… He can make somebody's 

will so airtight you can't break it. You count your blessings and stop 

complaining, both of you. Thank your stars he has the sense to act his age.

 

Miss Stephanie Crawford: There's a maniac lives there and he's dangerous… I 

was standing in my yard one day when his Mama come out yelling, 'He's killin' 

us all.' Turned out that Boo was sitting in the living room cutting up the 

paper for his scrapbook, and when his daddy come by, he reached over with his 

scissors, stabbed him in his leg, pulled them out, and went right on cutting 

the paper. They wanted to send him to an asylum, but his daddy said no Radley 

was going to any asylum. So they locked him up in the basement of the 

courthouse till he nearly died of the damp, and his daddy brought him back 

home. There he is to this day, sittin' over there with his scissors… Lord 

knows what he's doin' or thinkin'.

 

[to Dill about Miss Dubose]
Jem: Listen, no matter what she says to you, don't answer her back. There's a 

Confederate pistol in her lap under her shawl and she'll kill you quick as 

look at you. Come on.

 

Atticus Finch: Do you know what a compromise is?
Scout: Bendin' the law?
Atticus Finch: [slightly bemused] Uh, no. It's an agreement reached by mutual 

consent. Now, here's the way it works. You concede the necessity of goin' to 

school, we'll keep right on readin' the same every night, just as we always 

have. Is that a bargain?

 

Older Scout: [narrating] There just didn't seem to be anyone or anything 

Atticus couldn't explain. Though it wasn't a talent that would arouse the 

admiration of any of our friends, Jem and I had to admit he was very good at 

that – but that was *all* he was good at… we thought.

 

Older Scout: [narrating] Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he 

ever heard of me fightin' any more. I was far too old and too big for such 

childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off 

everybody would be. I soon forgot… Cecil Jacobs *made* me forget.

 

Scout: Atticus, do you defend niggers?
Atticus Finch: [startled] Don't say 'nigger,' Scout.
Scout: I didn't say it… Cecil Jacobs did; that's why I had to fight him.
Atticus Finch: [sternly] Scout, I don't want you fightin'!
Scout: I had to, Atticus, he…
Atticus Finch: I don't care what the reasons are: I forbid you to fight.

 

Atticus Finch: There are some things that you're not old enough to understand 

just yet. There's been some high talk around town to the effect that I 

shouldn't do much about defending this man.
Scout: If you shouldn't be defending him, then why are you doing it?
Atticus Finch: For a number of reasons. The main one is that if I didn't, I 

couldn't hold my head up in town. I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do 

somethin' again.
[he puts his arm around her]
Atticus Finch: You're gonna hear some ugly talk about this in school. But I 

want you to promise me one thing: That you won't get into fights over it, no 

matter what they say to you.

 

Older Scout: [narrating] By October, things had settled down again. I still 

looked for Boo every time I went by the Radley place. This night my mind was 

filled with Halloween – there was to be a pageant representing our county's 

agricultural products; I was to be a ham. Jem said he would escort me to the 

school auditorium. Thus began our longest journey together.

 

Older Scout: [narrating] One time Atticus said you never really knew a man 

until you stood in his shoes and walked around in them; just standin' on the 

Radley porch was enough. The summer that had begun so long ago had ended, and 

another summer had taken its place, and a fall, and Boo Radley had come out.

 

[last lines]
Older Scout: [narrating] I was to think of these days many times. Of Jem, and 

Dill, and Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson, and Atticus. He would be in Jem's 

room all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.

 

Mayella Ewell: I got somethin' to say. And then I ain't gonna say no more. He 

took advantage of me. An' if you fine, fancy gentlemen ain't gonna do nothin' 

about it, then you're just a bunch of lousy, yella, stinkin' cowards, the – 

the whole bunch of ya, and your fancy airs don't come to nothin'. Your 

Ma'am'in' and your Miss Mayellarin' – it don't come to nothin', Mr. Finch, 

not… no.

 

Dill Harris: Hey.
Jem: Hey yourself.
Dill Harris: I'm Charles Baker Harris. I can read. I can read anything you've 

got.
[swinging on the gate]
Dill Harris: Folks call me Dill.
Jem: How old are you? Four and a half?
Dill Harris: Going on seven.
Jem: Well, no wonder then. Scout's been readin' since she was born, and she's 

not even six yet. You're mighty puny for nearly seven.
Dill Harris: I'm little but I'm old.

 

Dill Harris: Let's go down to the courthouse and see the room that they 

locked Boo up in. My aunt says it's bat-infested, and he nearly died from the 

mildew. Come on. I bet they got chains and instruments of torture down there.

 

Sheriff Heck Tate: Didn't you know your daddy's the best shot in this county?

 

[testifying]
Mayella Ewell: I was sittin' on the porch, and he come along. Uh, there's 

this old chifforobe in the yard, and I-I said, 'You come in here, boy, and 

bust up this chifforobe, and I'll give you a nickel.' So he-he come on in the 

yard and I go in the house to get him the nickel and I turn around, and 'fore 

I know it, he's on me, and I fought and hollered, but he had me around the 

neck, and he hit me again and again, and the next thing I knew, Papa was in 

the room, a-standin' over me, hollerin', 'Who done it, who done it?'

 

Scout: Mr. Tate was right.
Atticus Finch: What do you mean?
Scout: Well, it would be sort of like shooting a mockingbird, wouldn't it?

 

Tom Robinson: I can't use my left hand at all. I got it caught in a cotton 

gin when I was twelve years old. All my muscles were tore loose.

 

[testifying]
Tom Robinson: Well, I said I best be goin', I couldn't do nothin' for her, 

an' she said, oh, yes I could. An' I asked her what, and she said to jus' 

step on the chair yonder an' git that box down from on top of the chifforobe. 

So I done like she told me, and I was reachin' when the next thing I know 

she… grabbed me aroun' the legs.
[a murmur erupts in the courthouse]
Tom Robinson: She scared me so bad I hopped down an' turned the chair over. 

That was the only thing, only furniture 'sturbed in the room, Mr. Finch, I 

swear, when I left it… Mr. Finch, I got down off the chair, and I turned 

around an' she sorta jumped on me. She hugged me aroun' the waist. She 

reached up an' kissed me on the face. She said she'd never kissed a grown man 

before an' she might as well kiss me. She says for me to kiss her back.
[Tom shakes his head, re-living the ordeal with his eyes half-closed]
Tom Robinson: And I said, Miss Mayella, let me outta here, an' I tried to 

run. Mr. Ewell cussed at her from the window and said he's gonna kill her.

 

Atticus Finch: Good Afternoon Miss Dubose… My, you look like a picture this 

afternoon.
Scout: [hiding behind Atticus whispering to Jem and Dill] He don't say a 

picture of what.

 

Scout: Hey Miss Dubose.
Mrs. Dubose: Don't you say "hey" to me, you ugly girl!

 

Miss Maudie Atkinson: Jem.
Jem: Yes, ma'am?
Miss Maudie Atkinson: I don't know if it will help saying this to you… some 

men in this world are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us… your father is 

one of them.
Jem: Oh, well.

 

Atticus Finch: Did you rape Mayella Ewell?
Tom Robinson: I did not, sir.
Atticus Finch: Did you harm her in any way?
Tom Robinson: I did not.

 

Scout: Jem is up in a tree, he said he won't come down until you agree to 

play football with the Methodists.