American novelist (1926- )
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
interview with Roy Newquist, Counterpoints, 1964
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
To Kill a Mockingbird
I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
People in their right minds never take pride in their talents.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
It's better to be silent than to be a fool.
HARPER LEE
statement at awards ceremony when asked if she would like to speak, 2007
Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of [another].
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
My book had a universal theme. It's not a "racial" novel. It portrays an aspect of civilization, not necessarily Southern civilization.
HARPER LEE
Birmingham Post-Herald, 1962
Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends.
HARPER LEE
Go Set a Watchman
But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal -- there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J. P. court in the land, or this honourable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
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 quicker than adults, an evasion simply muddles 'em.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
It's not time to worry yet.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
I like to write. Sometimes I'm afraid that I like it too much because when I get into work I don't want to leave it. As a result I'll go for days and days without leaving the house or wherever I happen to be. I'll go out long enough to get papers and pick up some food and that's it. It's strange, but instead of hating writing I love it too much.
HARPER LEE
interview with Roy Newquist, Counterpoints, 1964
Things are always better in the morning.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
I have nothing but gratitude for the people who made the film. It was a most unusual experience. I'm no judge, and the only film I've ever seen made was Mockingbird, but there seemed to be an aura of good feeling on the set. I went out and looked at them filming a little of it, and there seemed to be such a general kindness, perhaps even respect, for the material they were working with. I was delighted, touched, happy, and exceedingly grateful.
HARPER LEE
interview with Roy Newquist, Counterpoints, 1964
It was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
It's quite a thing, if you've never been in or known a small southern town. The people are not particularly sophisticated, naturally. They're not worldly wise in any way. But they tell you a story whenever they see you.
HARPER LEE
interview with Roy Newquist, Counterpoints, 1964
Folks don't like to have somebody around knowin' more than they do. It aggravates 'em.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird
Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between.
HARPER LEE
To Kill a Mockingbird