...in other words, all I want to be is the Jane Austen of south Alabama Interview - March 1964 Harper Lee More Quotes by Harper Lee More Quotes From Harper Lee You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Harper Lee sunshine positivity powerful I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading. Harper Lee eyebrows reading father 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 respect black-and-white men People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for. Harper Lee tkam powerful people 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 tkam god men 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 garden wisdom heart 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 growing-up eye inspiring 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 phones heart book 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 perseverance courage inspirational Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends. Harper Lee prejudice common dirty It's not necessary to tell all you know. Harper Lee ladylike calpurnia knows It's better to be silent than to be a fool. Harper Lee silent fool Things are always better in the morning. Harper Lee positivity optimistic morning 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 self writing thinking The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience. Harper Lee honesty powerful integrity 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 get-better talent want I never expected any sort of success with 'Mockingbird'... I sort of hoped someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Harper Lee encouragement enough giving Everybody’s gotta learn, nobody’s born knowing. Harper Lee born knowing Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. Harper Lee gratitude powerful appreciation 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 empty-rooms phones book
