Harper Lee’s timeless novel To Kill a Mockingbird offers readers powerful quotes that explore racism, courage, morality, and humanity.

If you’re a student, teacher, or literature lover, finding the right quote can deepen your understanding and appreciation of the novel’s profound themes.

In this guide, we’ve gathered the most significant quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird across various categories to help you analyze, discuss, or reflect on its messages.

Let’s dive in!

To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes with Page Numbers

📖 You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it

📖 The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience

📖 People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for

📖 The witness for the state has not produced one iota of medical evidence that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place

📖 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

📖 Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy

📖 Atticus, he was real nice. Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them

📖 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

📖 Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win

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

📖 There’s a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep ‘em all away from you

📖 Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets

📖 The evil assumption that all Negroes lie, all Negroes are basically immoral beings, all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women

📖 People in their right minds never take pride in their talents

📖 Things are never as bad as they seem

Tom Robinson To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes

⚖️ Tom Robinson’s a human being (Atticus)

⚖️ I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em (Tom Robinson)

⚖️ Mr. Finch, if you was a n**** like me, you’d be scared too (Tom Robinson)

⚖️ She reached up and kissed me ‘side of th’ face. She says what her papa do to her don’t count (Tom Robinson)

⚖️ I got nowhere to run, Mr. Finch (Tom Robinson)

⚖️ In our courts, all men are created equal (Atticus defending Tom)

⚖️ Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed (Narrator)

⚖️ Tom Robinson’s manners were as good as Atticus’s (Scout)

⚖️ There is not one shred of evidence to suggest that Tom Robinson did anything wrong (Atticus)

⚖️ His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side (About Tom Robinson)

⚖️ She tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable (Atticus)

⚖️ Mayella Ewell must destroy the evidence of her offense (Atticus)

⚖️ If she’s dead, then God have mercy on us all (Tom Robinson’s fate)

⚖️ Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much (Atticus)

⚖️ I was scared I’d have to face up to what I didn’t do (Tom Robinson)

Symbolism in To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes

🕊️ Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy

🕊️ It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird

🕊️ Boo Radley’s staying inside is his own way of surviving

🕊️ The Radley Place fascinated Dill

🕊️ The court is a symbol of justice, though flawed

🕊️ The knot-hole in the tree symbolizes silent communication and lost innocence

🕊️ The rabid dog represents the spread of racism and moral decay

🕊️ The snowman Jem builds represents race blending

🕊️ The camellia flower Mrs. Dubose gives Jem symbolizes forgiveness

🕊️ Scout’s overalls symbolize breaking gender norms

🕊️ The prison fence represents confinement and social barriers

🕊️ The broken arm symbolizes permanent scars from social injustice

🕊️ Dill’s tears symbolize lost innocence

🕊️ The mockingbird symbolizes innocence harmed by evil

🕊️ Boo Radley’s gifts symbolize kindness misunderstood

Calpurnia To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes

🍞 That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him

🍞 Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny

🍞 Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are

🍞 There’s some folks who don’t eat like us

🍞 You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here

🍞 You can’t dress up a pig

🍞 I don’t want anybody sayin’ I don’t look after my children

🍞 Atticus, it’s all right to be proud but don’t let it get you down

🍞 She was always ordering me out of the kitchen

🍞 Calpurnia rarely commented on the ways of white people

🍞 Calpurnia led a modest double life

🍞 That church has no hymn books

🍞 I couldn’t go to the white folks’ church

🍞 The men stepped back and took off their hats

🍞 Calpurnia bent down and kissed me

How To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes

📝 It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird

📝 You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view

📝 The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience

📝 The world is full of ugly things

📝 People generally see what they look for

📝 I wanted you to see what real courage is

📝 Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music

📝 You rarely win, but sometimes you do

📝 Atticus is the same in his house as he is on the streets

📝 Mayella Ewell tempted a Negro

📝 There’s a lot of ugly things in this world

📝 Things are never as bad as they seem

📝 Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read

📝 Mr. Finch, if you was a n**** like me, you’d be scared too

📝 People in their right minds never take pride in their talents

To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes About Prejudice

⚠️ The evil assumption that all Negroes lie

⚠️ Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella screamed

⚠️ Mayella Ewell tempted a Negro

⚠️ In our courts, all men are created equal

⚠️ She did something that in our society is unspeakable

⚠️ People generally see what they look for

⚠️ The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience

⚠️ Some folks don’t like the way I live

⚠️ Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started

⚠️ There’s nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who’ll take advantage of a Negro

⚠️ When it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins

⚠️ Prejudice is a learned behavior

⚠️ They’ve done it before and they’ll do it again

⚠️ You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here

⚠️ Scout, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.

To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes About Courage

💪 I wanted you to see what real courage is

💪 Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started

💪 Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music

💪 You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin

💪 Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin

💪 Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is in public

💪 Things are never as bad as they seem

💪 It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird

💪 Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town

💪 Tom Robinson’s manners were as good as Atticus’s

💪 The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience

💪 Jem held my hand and said I wasn’t scared

💪 Seventeen bullet holes in him

💪 Boo Radley’s staying inside is his way of surviving

💪 Courage isn’t a man with a gun in his hand

Famous To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes

🌟 You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view

🌟 It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird

🌟 The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience

🌟 People generally see what they look for

🌟 I wanted you to see what real courage is

🌟 Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music

🌟 Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is in public

🌟 Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started

🌟 Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read

🌟 In our courts, all men are created equal

🌟 Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella screamed

🌟 Prejudice is a learned behavior

🌟 Boo Radley’s gifts symbolize kindness misunderstood

🌟 Scout, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.

🌟 Things are never as bad as they seem

Best To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes

🏆 You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it

🏆 It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird

🏆 The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience

🏆 People generally see what they look for

🏆 I wanted you to see what real courage is

🏆 Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music

🏆 Real courage is knowing you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway

🏆 In our courts, all men are created equal

🏆 Tom Robinson’s a human being

🏆 Mayella Ewell tempted a Negro

🏆 Things are never as bad as they seem

🏆 Boo Radley’s staying inside is his way of surviving

🏆 Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is in public

🏆 Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started

🏆 Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read

Conclusion

To Kill a Mockingbird continues to resonate because of its rich characters, unforgettable quotes, and powerful exploration of prejudice, courage, and morality.

Use these quotes for essays, discussions, or personal reflection to grasp the novel’s enduring wisdom.