As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much else for us to learn, except possibly algebra.

"When they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things... Atticus, he was real nice..." His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me. "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."

As a reader I loathe introductions...Introductions inhibit pleasure, they kill the joy of anticipation, they frustrate curiosity.

Characters make their own plot. The dimensions of the characters determine the action of the novel.

Nothin’s real scary except in books.

When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ‘em. No... you had the right answer this afternoon, but the wrong reasons. Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they’re not attracting attention with it. Hotheadedness isn’t.

Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him.