Dill?" Mm?" Why do you reckon Boo Radleys never run off?" Dill sighed a long sigh and turned away from me. Maybe he doesn't have anywhere to run off to Harper Lee More Quotes by Harper Lee More Quotes From Harper Lee 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 language struggle beautiful I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. Harper Lee gun real courage Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon after their three o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. There's no hurry, for there's nowhere to go and nothing to buy... and no money to buy it with. Harper Lee tired morning sweet Dill said striking a match under a turtle was hateful. “How do you know a match don't hurt him?” “Turtles can't feel, stupid,” said Jem. “Where you ever a turtle, huh? Harper Lee turtles stupid hurt You can choose your friends but you sho' can't choose your family, an' they're still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge 'em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don't. Harper Lee tkam silly looks We're paying the highest tribute you can pay a man. We trust him to do right. It's that simple. Harper Lee powerful simple men 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 dad war father I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year. Scout Harper Lee jem-and-scout tkam years People who write for reward by way of recognition or monetary gain don't know what they're doing. They're in the category of those who write; they are not writers. Writing is simply something you must do. It's rather like virtue in that it is its own reward. Writing is selfish and contradictory in its terms. First of all, you're writing for an audience of one, you must please the one person you're writing for. Yourself. Harper Lee audience-of-one selfish writing 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 university writing school Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts. Harper Lee jem-and-scout tkam adjectives I remember when my daddy gave me that gun. He told me that I should never point it at anything in the house; and that he'd rather I'd shoot at tin cans in the backyard. But he said that sooner or later he supposed the temptation to go after birds would be too much, and that I could shoot all the blue jays I wanted - if I could hit 'em; but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. Harper Lee tin-cans gun blue Are you proud of yourself tonight that you have insulted a total stranger whose circumstances you know nothing about? Harper Lee empathy tonight proud I try to give'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. Harper Lee ems trying giving Characters make their own plot. The dimensions of the characters determine the action of the novel. Harper Lee plot writing character 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 jobs men father You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Harper Lee tkam winning sometimes 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 ugly-things wish son Southern lawyers don't read novels much. Harper Lee lawyer novel southern Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they're not attracting attention with it. Harper Lee tkam attention children
