Words of Wisdom: Five spectacular Quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird

Quote 1:

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” (pg. 33, Ch. 3)

-This quote tells us that you can’t judge anyone unless you are able to understand them and their reasoning for doing something. You can’t judge a person unless you know what they are feeling or what is going on in their life. You also shouldn’t judge them, but you should respect them and their decisions in life. Since you cannot physically get into someone‘s skin, this quote is saying that you cannot judge anyone at all no matter what, but be willing to consider their views and actions. The lesson we can take from this quote is that you must be prepared to listen to someone, respect their decisions, and understand why they do things a certain way. You must put yourself in their position and try to walk in their shoes. There may be a good reason behind their actions, even if you don’t fully agree with them. This quote was said by Atticus, one of the main characters of this novel, who was wise and full of wisdom. He says this quote to Scout after her first day at school, when she is telling him about Walter and Miss Caroline and what happens between them. I find this quote to be words of wisdom because it is telling you that you shouldn’t judge people at all, unless you’ve been through what they have experienced or you are able feel the same way they do.

-Atticus said this quote when he was talking to Scout after her first at school, when she is telling a story about Walter and Miss Caroline.

Quote 2:

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”

-This quote is telling us that you never really no how much you loved or needed something until it is gone. People do not love breathing, but we don’t know how valuable it is until it is gone, it involves life or death. This quote was said by Scout, the little girl in which the book was seen through her perspective (third person view) whose teacher discovered she was literate, because of her father. Scout could not remember not being able to read. She began by studying the Mobile Register news paper every day and singing the hymns when they attended church. Scout’s reading was something that just came naturally to her, like breathing does to us. She learnt a lot from her father and was only struck by this when Miss Caroline the teacher told her to tell Atticus not to teach her any more (that did not make Scout happy, at all). She then realized how important reading is in this world. Also she realizes how much she has learnt from being around her father without knowing it until this Miss Caroline points it out to her in school. There are some things in life we take for granted, but don’t realize how important it is, until we think about it, never take anything for granted.

-Scout said this after she realized her reading abilty, that she had somehow picked up from her dad.

Quote 3:

“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. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” (pg 128, Ch 11)

-This quote is said by Atticus to Jem about Mrs. Dubose who had recently died. Jem had become so angry with her that he had destroyed her garden. When Atticus found this out he made Jem apologize and read to her regularly. Mrs. Dubose was a complex, slight person weighing only 98 pounds. She was a morphine addict, but through courage was able to quit the habit just before her death. She died at peace, owing nothing to anyone. It infers that courage is not shown by the person with the upper hand, but by the other person who knows beforehand that they may lose, but continues to fight and try his best until the end. Courage is many things, but true courage is knowing that you may not emerge victorious, but holding on longer and still fighting your hardest no matter what. Mrs. Dubose fought a tough battle with morphine and through her determination and perseverance won. Atticus also had lots of courage because he took the Tom Robinson case, no matter what the consequences would be. He knew he may lose friends and make many enemies, but he took the case anyway as he felt it was right and necessary. If he did not, he knew he couldn’t look his kids in the eyes again.

-Atticus was the one who said this quote to Jem, when Mrs. Dubose died, after Jem had destryed her garden.

Quote 4:

"Jack! 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, and evasion simply muddles ‘em. No...you had the right answer this afternoon, but the wrong reasons. Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn they’re not attracting attention with it. Hotheadedness isn’t. Scout’s got to learn to keep her head and learn soon, with what’s in store for her these next few months." (pg. 99, Ch. 9)

-This quote is going off of what Scout asked Uncle Jack about what a “whore lady” was. Uncle Jack did not know how to answer the question because he was embarrassed by her bad language, since he had never had kids, so he just kind of brushed it off, and did not really answer the question. This was a conversation with Atticus and Jack later that night (each having lines in this quote). Jack was saying how Scout was not an adult, and did not need to know that. While Atticus, was saying that he knows his kids are not adults, but he still is upfront with them about everything, as he believes they should know. Jack’s excuse after was that he had never had children before, so he was not sure exactly what to say to her. Plus, he was not sure if Atticus would get angry at him for saying that to her. This is another example of how Atticus is raising his kids, and how he feels about them. You can tell that he really respects them, and thinks very highly of them. I believe that he is a good parent and knows how to handle bad situations like that. Plus, he is very honest with his children and respects them. However, this was not Uncle Jack fault because he had never had kids before.

-Atticus was the one who said this quote to his brother Jack finch, he said this quote to him because he was not upfront with Scout about a horrible thing she asked him earlier, instead he lied and mislead her.

Quote 5:

"'The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.'" (pg.120, Ch.11)

-This quote was said between Scout and her father regarding his defense of Tom Robinson. Both her and her brother have been subjected to many cruel taunts from the conservative community disgusting that Atticus is defending a black man. With great compassion Atticus tells her that no matter how many people go against you, if you think your conscience is right you will go with that instead of the other people’s views. Yet you must also be courteous and respectful of others opinions, even if you do not agree with them. He tells Scout she must be strong and live her life not the way the most would, but live it according to her own morals and values. So if you know that something is right and it obeys the law, then you should probably not go with what the other people are saying if you know that it is clearly wrong and against the law. So instead of Scout listening to all of the negatives people are saying to her, she is instead living the life that she wants to live, not how other people think she should live. Scout seems like that she will stick to her guns no matter what happens.