I think I'll be a clown when I get grown,' said Dill. Jem and I stopped in our tracks. Yes sir, a clown,' he said. 'There ain't one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I'm gonna join the circus and laugh my head off.' You got it backwards, Dill,' said Jem. 'Clowns are sad, it's folks that laugh at them.' Well I'm gonna be a new kind of clown. I'm gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks.

When stalking one’s prey, it is best to take one’s time. Say nothing, and as sure as eggs he will become curious and emerge.

There are some men in this world who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father's one of them.

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.

Southern lawyers don't read novels much.

Folks were doin' a lot of runnin' that night

Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself.