It's not necessary to tell all you know.

Mr. Avery said it was written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the seasons would change: Jem and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbors and discomfort to ourselves.

Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself.

Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open.

Are you proud of yourself tonight that you have insulted a total stranger whose circumstances you know nothing about?

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. Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up.

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