Nelle Harper Lee was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Profoundly inspirational Harper Lee quotes will challenge the way you think, and make your life worth living.
If you’re searching for inspiring quotes by famous authors that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of quotes by Haruki Murakami, best Helen Keller quotes and greatest Henry Miller quotes.
Famous Harper Lee Quotes
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Harper Lee
The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for. Harper Lee
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
As you grow up, always tell the truth, do no harm to others, and don’t think you are the most important being on earth. Rich or poor, you then can look anyone in the eye and say, ‘I’m probably no better than you, but I’m certainly your equal. Harper Lee
It’s not time to worry yet. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. Harper Lee
Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. Harper Lee
People don’t like to have somebody knowing more than they do. It aggravates them. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. Harper Lee
I try to give em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends. Harper Lee
You don’t have to learn much out of books, it’s like if you want to learn about cows, you go milk one. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Characters make their own plot. The dimensions of the characters determine the action of the novel. Harper Lee
If one went for a walk with no definite purpose in mind, it was correct to believe one’s mind was incapable of definite purpose. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
It’s not necessary to tell all you know. Harper Lee
We generally get the juries we deserve. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
A man can condemn his enemies, but it’s wiser to know them. Harper Lee
You see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books. Instant information is not for me. I prefer to search library stacks because when I work to learn something, I remember it. And, Oprah, can you imagine curling up in bed to read a computer? Weeping for Anna Karenina and being terrified by Hannibal Lecter, entering the heart of darkness with Mistah Kurtz, having Holden Caulfield ring you up some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal. Harper Lee
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of another There are just some kind of men who who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results. Harper Lee
People in their right minds never take pride in their talents. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think. No book in the world equals the Bible for that. Harper Lee
Sometimes it’s better to bend the law a little in special cases. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts. Harper Lee
I do my best to love everyday. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, he is trash Harper Lee
It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike in the second place, folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Things are always better in the morning. Harper Lee
If you can learn a simple trick, you’ll get along a lot better with all kind of folks. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Everybody’s gotta learn, nobody’s born knowing. Harper Lee
There are just some kind of men who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
You can’t really get to know a person until you get in their shoes and walk around in them. Harper Lee
Cry about the simple hell people give other people without even thinking. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Are you proud of yourself tonight that you have insulted a total stranger whose circumstances you know nothing about? Harper Lee
The only way in which all men in America are equal, is in the courtroom. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
It’s better to be silent than to be a fool. Harper Lee
If we followed our feelings all the time, we’d be like cats chasin’ their tails. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
People in their right minds never take pride in their talents. Harper Lee
There’s a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep ’em all away from you. That’s never possible.
Writing is a process of self discipline you must learn before you can call yourself a writer. There are people who write, but I think they’re quite different from people who must write. Harper Lee
When stalking one’s prey, it is best to take one’s time. Say nothing, and as sure as eggs he will become curious and emerge. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Things are never as bad as they seem. Harper Lee
Most people are nice when you finally see them. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
There’s no substitute for the love of language, for the beauty of an English sentence. There’s no substitute for struggling, if a struggle is needed, to make an English sentence as beautiful as it should be. Harper Lee
Things are always better in the morning. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
She knew full well the enormity of her offense, but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it. Harper Lee
Are you proud of yourself tonight that you have insulted a total stranger whose circumstances you know nothing about? Harper Lee
It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived. Harper Lee
I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide. Harper Lee
When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion faster than adults, and evasion simply muddles ’em. Harper Lee
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. Harper Lee
Now in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books. Harper Lee
You can’t really get to know a person until you get in their shoes and walk around in them. Harper Lee
You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Harper Lee
People in their right minds never take pride in their talents. Harper Lee
We’re paying the highest tribute you can pay a man. We trust him to do right. It’s that simple. Harper Lee
Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself. Harper Lee
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. Harper Lee
I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks. Harper Lee
There are some men in this world who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them. Harper Lee
Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts. Harper Lee
I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide. Harper Lee
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for. Harper Lee
It’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you. Harper Lee
Everybody’s gotta learn, nobody’s born knowing. Harper Lee
I do my best to love everybody Harper Lee
As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, he is trash. Harper Lee
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. Harper Lee
You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Harper Lee
Writing is something you’ll never learn in any university or at any school. It’s something that is within you, and if it isn’t there, nothing can put it there. Harper Lee
Characters make their own plot. The dimensions of the characters determine the action of the novel. Harper Lee
But sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down. Harper Lee
Things are never as bad as they seem. Harper Lee
I never expected any sort of success with Mockingbird. I sort of hoped someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Harper Lee
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. Harper Lee
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. Harper Lee
It’s better to be silent than to be a fool. Harper Lee
Naturally, you don’t sit down in white hot inspiration and write with a burning flame in front of you. But since I knew I could never be happy being anything but a writer, and Mockingbird put itself together for me so accommodatingly, I kept at it because I knew it had to be my first novel, for better or for worse. Harper Lee
Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. Harper Lee
Sometimes the Bible in the hands of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hands of another. Harper Lee
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. Scout Finch
There’s a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep ’em all away from you. That’s never possible. Harper Lee
Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts. Scout Finch.
I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks. Harper Lee
It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived. Scout Finch
You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ’em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change Harper Lee
Atticus says you can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family Jem Finch
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. Harper Lee
There are just some kind of men who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results. Miss Maudie
Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives. Harper Lee
Sometimes the bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of oh, of your father. Miss Maudie.
Ladies pick funny things to be proud of. Harper Lee
.You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. Atticus Finch
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. Harper Lee
Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. Atticus Finch
He turned out the light and went into Jem’s room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem woke up in the morning. Harper Lee
Every lawyer gets one case in his life that affects him personally this one’s mine I guess. Atticus Finch
Rest assured, as long as I am alive any book purporting to be with my cooperation is a falsehood. Harper Lee
Tom Robinson’s case is something that goes to the essence of every man’s conscience. Atticus Finch.
I was a first time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn’t realized it the original book had survived, so I was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years. Harper Lee
I wanted you to see what real courage is instead of getting the idea into your head that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. Atticus Finch
Sometimes it’s better to bend the law a little in special cases. Harper Lee
All the little man on the witness stand had that made him any better than his neighbor was that if he scrubbed his skin with lye soap in hot water – his skin was white. Scout Finch
