Finders were keepers unless title was proven.

Wordsworth was right when he said that we trail clouds of glory as we come into the world, that we are born with a divine sense of perception. As we grow older, the world closes in on us, and we gradually lose the freshness of viewpoint that we had as children. That is why I think children should get to know this country while they are young.

The things that happen to people we never really know. What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets -

Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.

When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

To be a serious writer requires discipline that is iron fisted. It's sitting down and doing it whether you think you have it in you or not. Everyday. Alone. Without interruption. Contrary to what most people think, there is no glamour to writing. In fact, it's heartbreak most of the time.

When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness' sake.