Things are never as bad as they seem.

...in other words, all I want to be is the Jane Austen of south Alabama Interview - March 1964

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

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.

Where are your pants, son?

Turtles don't feel, stupid," said Jem. "Were you ever a turtle, huh?

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