The Help is a historical fiction novel by American author Kathryn Stockett and published by Penguin Books in 2009. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s. A USA Today article called it one of the “summer sleeper hits.” Profoundly inspirational The Help quotes will encourage you to think a little deeper than you usually would and broaden your perspective.
If you’re searching for thought-provoking quotes from books that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of profound The Color Purple quotes, amazing The Secret Life of Bees quotes and top The Awakening quotes.
Famous The Help Quotes
Elaine Stein: Eugenia, Martin Luther King just invited the entire country to march with him in DC in august. This many negros and whites have not worked together since ‘Gone With The Wind’.
Charlotte Phelan: (To Hilly) Get your raggedy *ss off my porch.
Celia Foote: They don’t like me because of what they think I did. Minny Jackson: They don’t like you because they think that you white trash.
Aibileen Clark: I thought I might write my stories down or read ’em to you. Ain’t no different in writin’ down my prayers.
Aibileen Clark: Miss Myrna get it wrong a lot of times, it’d be good to get it right.
Stuart Whitworth: Ain’t that all you girls always major in? Professional husband huntin’.
Elaine Stein: Who was it? Skeeter Phelan: (sees her mother) My mother? Skeeter Phelan: My mother?
Minny Jackson: Now Mr. Johnny’s gonna catch me here, and shoot me dead right here on this no-wax floor. You gotta tell him. Ain’t he wonderin’ how the cookin’s so good? Celia Foote: You’re right. Maybe we oughta burn the chicken a little. Minny Jackson: Minnie don’t burn no chicken.
Elizabeth Leefolt: Hilly, I wish you’d just go use the bathroom. Hilly Holbrook: I’m fine. Mrs. Walters: Oh, she’s just upset because the nigra uses the guest bath and so do we.
Aibileen Clark: Ms. Leefolt should not be havin’ babies. Put that in the book.
Charlotte Phelan: They say courage skips a generation. Mr. Blackly: One of these days their gonna figure out cigarettes will kill you.
Hilly Holbrook: What are you trying to do to me? What are you and that nigra up to? Celia Foote: I don’t know what you’re talking about. Hilly Holbrook: You liar! Who did you tell? Celia Foote: [shouts] Hilly, I got pregnant after you and Johnny broke up! Missus Walters: Oh, sh*t!
Aibileen Clark: Miss Leefolt got so much hairspray on her head, she’s gonna blow us all up if she lights a cigarette.
Hilly Holbrook: Maybe I can’t send you to jail for what you wrote, but I can send you for bein’ a thief. Aibileen Clark: I know somethin’ about you. Don’t you forget that. From what Yule Mae says, there’s a lot of time to write letters in jail. Plenty of time to write the truth about you. And the paper is free. Hilly Holbrook: Nobody will believe what you wrote! Aibileen Clark: I don’t know. I’ve been told that I’m a pretty good writer, already sold a lot of books!
Minny Jackson: Eat my…. Hilly Holbrook: What did you say? Hilly Holbrook: What are you saying?
Minny Jackson: Am I supposed to come up with the questions, too?
Skeeter Phelan: I’m sorry, but were you dropping your head as an infant or were you just born stupid?
Minny Jackson: (Talking to Skeeter) You ain’t nothin’ left here but enemies in the Junior League. You’ve done burned every bridge there is. And you ain’t never gonna get another man in this town. Everybody knows that. So don’t walk your white butt to New York, run it!. Minny Jackson: [talking to Skeeter] You ain’t nothin’ left here but enemies in the Junior League. You’ve done burned every bridge there is. And you ain’t never gonna get another man in this town. Everybody knows that. So don’t walk your white butt to New York, run it!
Hilly Holbrook: (waves goodbye to Skeeter) Bye, Skeeter. Hilly Holbrook: [waves goodbye to Skeeter] Bye, Skeeter.
Skeeter Phelan: (To Stuart) I’m sorry, but you were droppin’ your head as an infant or were you just born stupid?. Skeeter Phelan: [to Stuart] I’m sorry, but you were droppin’ your head as an infant or were you just born stupid?
Aibileen Clark: (talking to Skeeter) We… are… alive… Aibileen Clark: [talking to Skeeter] We… are… alive…
Hilly Holbrook: I said ‘coats’, not ‘commodes’!
Aibileen: Eighteen people were killed in Jackson that night. Eight black and ten white. I don’t think God has color in mind that he sets the tornado loose. Aibileen: 18 people were killed in Jackson that night. 10 white and 8 black. I don’t think God has color in mind when he sets a tornado loose
Minny Jackson: Forgive me, Lord, but I have to kill that woman, Aibileen. Now, she gone to putting pencil marks on my toilet paper. Aibileen Clark: Did she? Minny Jackson: But I carry paper in from my own damn house. That fool don’t know. Aibileen Clark: Miss Leefolt got so much hairspray on her head she gonna blow us all up if she light a cigarette. Minny Jackson: And you know she will!
Missus Walters: I paid good money for this pie Missus Walters: I spent good money on this pie.
Mr. Blackly: I guarantee you, one day they’re gonna figure out some cigarettes will kill you.
Hilly Holbrook: (gets out of her car and she sees Skeeter sitting on the front porch and she is about to step on it) Skeeter, what are you doin’ out here?. Hilly Holbrook: [gets out of her car and she sees Skeeter sitting on the front porch and she is about to step on it] Skeeter, what are you doin’ out here?
Jolene French: I heard that Betty character might be Mary Elizabeth. Hilly Holbrook: It’s not Jackson and that book is garbage. I bet that whole thing was made up by some nigra. Mary Beth Caldwell: And Jolene, didn’t your mama leave Cora to you in her will? Jolene French: Yes, but that’s not odd, is it? Happens all the time, right? Hilly Holbrook: The book is not about Jackson!
Minny Jackson: Eat my sh*t. Hilly Holbrook: Have you lost your mind?! Minny Jackson: No, but you’re about to, ’cause you just did. Hilly Holbrook: Did what?
Skeeter Phelan: Have you changed your mind?. Skeeter Phelan: What changed your mind?
Elizabeth Leefolt: (smacks Mae in the leg while she’s trying to get on the toilet that landed on Hilly’s lawn) You will get a disease from these toilets!. Elizabeth Leefolt: [smacks Mae in the leg while she’s trying to get on the toilet that landed on Hilly’s lawn] You will get a disease from these toilets!
Stuart Whitworth: I’ve never met a woman that says exactly what she’s thinking. Skeeter Phelan: Well, I got plenty to say.
Hilly Holbrook: Have you lost your mind? Minny Jackson: No ma’am, but you ’bout to.
Stuart Whitworth: Isn’t that what you girls from Ole Miss major in – professional husband huntin’?
Hilly Holbrook: Are you losing your mind? (Response by Minny: No, but you are about to. Hilly Holbrook: Have you lost your mind? Minny Jackson: No mam. But you are about to.
Charlotte Phelan: You know, Hilly, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you’ve been eatin’ too much ‘pie’.
Aibileen Clark: I ain’t never had no white person in my house before.
Minny Jackson: You ain’t got nothing left here but enemies in the Junior League. You done burned every bridge there is. And you ain’t never gonna get another man in this town. Everybody know that. So don’t walk your white butt to New York, run it!
Celia Foote: Maybe we ought to burn the chicken a little. Minny Jackson: Minny don’t burn chicken.
Aibileen: You is kind. You is smart. You is important Aibileen: You is kind. You is smart. You is important.
Hilly Holbrook: coats…..not commodes Hilly Holbrook: I told her to write coats! Not commodes!
Minny Jackson: You’re a fool, woman. You’re a fool!
Minny Jackson: Fried chicken just tend to make you feel better about life.
Minny Jackson: Minnie don’t burn fried chicken.
Minny Jackson: Fried chicken just tend to make you feel better about life.
Aibileen Clark: [to Hilly] All you do is scare and lie to try and get what you want. You’re a godless woman. Ain’t you tired, Miss Hilly? Ain’t you tired?
Mae Mobley: You’re my real mama, Aibileen. Mae Mobley: Aibee, you’re my real mama.
Minny Jackson: (talking to Aibileen as she points to Skeeter) I gotta make sure she understands that expression. Minny Jackson: I gotta make sure she understands that expression.
Hilly Holbrook: (shoves Skeeter on the front porch) You tell Aibileen that the next time she wants to write about her dear friend Elizabeth. Hilly Holbrook: You tell Aibileen that the next time she wants to write about her dear friend Elizabeth.
Hilly Holbrook: What are you tryin’ to do to me? What are you and that nigra up to?. Hilly Holbrook: What are you tryin’ to do to me? What are you and that nigra up to? Celia Foote: I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. Hilly Holbrook: You liar! Who did you tell?. Celia Foote: (shouts) Hilly, I got pregnant after you and Johnny broke up!. Celia Foote: Hilly, I got pregnant after you and Johnny broke up!
Charlotte Phelan: Love and hate are two horns on the same goat, Eugenia. And you need a goat.
Aibileen Clark: Eighteen people were killed in Jackson that night. Ten white and eight black. I don’t think God has color in mind when he sets a tornado loose.
Yule Mae Davis: Hey!, Minnie. Yule Mae Davis: Hey Minnie!
Stuart Whitworth: I’ve never met a woman that says exactly what she’s thinking. Skeeter Phelan: Well, I got plenty to say.
Missus Walters: You should read the book, Hilly. It’s quite scandalous. Sounds like…Jackson, if you ask me. Quite scandalous. Hilly Holbrook: What book? Missus Walters: The Help. H–E–L–P.
Aibileen: Minny, we’re rich!! Aibileen: Minny, we’re rich!
Johnny Foote: before we all get one of those disscusting things on our lips Johnny Foote: Before we all get one of those disgusting things on our lips! Charlotte Phelan: Before we all get one of those disgusting things on our lips!
Hilly Holbrook: Put Mama in a chair before she breaks a heel. Hilly Holbrook: Put Momma in a chair before she breaks her hip.
Skeeter: Well, I do my homework.
Mae Mobley: Your my real mama, Aibey.
Mr. Blackly: Shut the damn door!. Mr. Blackly: Shut the damn door!
Skeeter Phelan: Oysters are a vehicle for crackers and ketchup.
Aibileen: No one had ever asked me, what it felt like to be me. Once I told the truth about that, I felt free.
Aibileen Clark: Hey Minny Aibileen Clark: Hey Minny. Minny Jackson: Hey Aiblienen Minny Jackson: Hey Aiblienen. Yule Mae Davis: Hey Minny Yule Mae Davis: Hey Minny. Minny Jackson: Hmmmmm Minny Jackson: Hmmmmm.
Charlotte Phelan: (Sees Skeeter talking on the phone with Ms. Elaine Stain from New York City as she opens the door) Skeeter, who are you talkin’ to in there. Charlotte Phelan: [sees Skeeter talking on the phone with Ms. Elaine Stain from New York City as she opens the door] Skeeter, who are you talkin’ to in there.
Minny Jackson: Love and hate are two horns on the same goat. Charlotte Phelan: Love and hate are two horns on the same goat.
Charlotte Phelan: Your eggs are dyin’. Would it kill you to go on a date?
Charlotte Phelan: You bring courage back to this family.
Mr. Blackly: Shut the godd*mn door!
Aibileen: God says we need to love our enemies. It’s hard to do, but it can start by tellin’ the truth.
Charlotte Phelan: Courage sometimes skips a generation. Thank you for bringin’ it back to our family.
Robert Phelan: (talking to Carlton about Skeeter) Leave your sister alone. Robert Phelan: [talking to Carlton about Skeeter] Leave your sister alone.
Hilly Holbrook: (stands behind the bathroom door when Minny is using it) Minnie, are you in there?. Minnie, are you on the toilet?. Minnie, Minnie. YOU ARE FIRED!. Hilly Holbrook: [stands behind the bathroom door when Minny is using it] Minnie, are you in there? Minnie, are you on the toilet? Minnie, Minnie. YOU ARE FIRED!
Skeeter Phelan: (On the phone with Ms. Elaine Stain from New York City) I’d like to write somethin’ the the help. Skeeter Phelan: [on the phone with Ms. Elaine Stain from New York City] I’d like to write somethin’ the the help.
Celia Foote: How come they won’t accept me?
Skeeter Phelan: I got a job today. Charlotte Phelan: Where? Skeeter Phelan: The Jackson Journal. Charlotte Phelan: Great. You can write my obituary! Charlotte Phelan, dead. Her daughter still single! Charlotte Phelan: Great. You can write my obituary! ‘Charlotte Phelan, dead. Her daughter still single!’
Minny Jackson: I can’t let you eat anymore cornpone. Mr. Johnny. Johnny Foote: Well, thanks to you, now I have to let out every pair of pants I own.
Aibileen Clark: You are a goddless women Aibileen Clark: You are a goddless women. Aibileen Clark: You are a godless women.
Minny Jackson: Miss Minnie don’t burn no chicken Minny Jackson: Minnie don’t burn no chicken.
Missus Walters: I may have trouble rememberin’ my own name or what country I live in, but there are two things that I can’t seem to forget: that my own daughter threw me into a nursin’ home, and that she ate Minnie’s sh*t.
Celia Foote: I can do this on my own!. Celia Foote: I can do this on my own.
Hilly Holbrook: That’s why I’ve drafted the Home Help Sanitation Initiative. Skeeter Phelan: The what? Hilly Holbrook: A disease-preventative bill that requires every white home to have a separated bathroom for the colored help. It’s been endorsed by the White Citizen’s Council. Skeeter Phelan: Maybe we just build you a bathroom outside, Hilly.
Skeeter: You said to write about what disturbs me, particularly if it bothers no one else.
Mrs. Walters: I may not know my name or forget what country I’m in most of the time but there are two things I can’t seem to forget. That my own daughter put me in a nursing home and that she ate Minny’s sh*t.
Hilly Holbrook: They carry different diseases than we do. That’s why I’ve drafted the Home Health Sanitation Initiative. Skeeter Phelan: That what? Hilly Holbrook: A disease-preventative bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the colored help. It’s been endorsed by the White Citizen’s Council. Skeeter Phelan: Maybe we should just build you a bathroom outside, Hilly.
Aibileen Clark: I didn’t steal no silver. Hilly Holbrook: Maybe I can’t send you to jail for what you wrote but I can send you for being a thief! Aibileen Clark: I know something about you, don’t you forget that! From what Yule Mae says, there’s a lot of time to write letters in jail. Plenty of time to write the truth about you. And the paper is free.
Charlotte Phelan: (pushes Hilly off the front porch as she’s talking to her) Now, you get your raggedy *ss my porch. Get off my property. Go on. Before we get some disgustin’ things on our lips!.
