Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends.

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

Havin' a gun around's an invitation to somebody to shoot you.

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

This time we aren't fighting the Yankees, we're fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they're still our friends and this is still our home.

Writing is simply something you must do. It's rather like virtue in that it is its own reward.

I'm little but I'm old.