I came to the conclusion that people were just peculiar, I withdrew from them, and never thought about them until I was forced to.

Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

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

My objectives are very limited. I want to do the best I can with the talent God gave me. I hope to goodness that every novel I do gets better and better, not worse and worse.

I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury system - that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.

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

I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her. She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society.