What does a child’s gaze reveal about a town’s heart?
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird follows Scout Finch, a sharp-witted girl in Maycomb, Alabama, whose unyielding fairness cuts through prejudice and hypocrisy. From childhood adventures to courtroom battles, Scout’s voice captures a world wrestling with justice and humanity.
This collection presents 37 quotes, organized by Scout’s journey—curiosity, growing awareness, confronting injustice, and mature reflection—showcasing Lee’s poignant prose and themes of empathy, fairness, and courage.
Heads up! Check the note at the end about the edition used and why page numbers might vary.
Curiosity and Innocence: A Child’s Maycomb
Scout’s spirited curiosity lights up Maycomb’s quirks, from Boo Radley’s shadow to summer romps with Jem and Dill.
“Atticus had urged them to accept the state’s generosity in allowing them to plead Guilty to second-degree murder and escape with their lives, but they were Haverfords, in Maycomb County a name synonymous with jackass. The Haverfords had dispatched Maycomb’s leading blacksmith in a misunderstanding arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare, were imprudent enough to do it in the presence of three witnesses, and insisted that the son-of-a-bitch-had-it-coming-to-him was a good enough defence for anybody.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 1, Page 5
“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. 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 frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 1, Page 5
Scout’s summers burst with adventure, fueled by her friend Dill’s wild imagination. explore Dill’s quirky charm.
“Thereafter the summer passed in routine contentment. Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the back yard, fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. (…) Thus we came to know Dill as a pocket Merlin, whose head teemed with eccentric plans, strange longings, and quaint fancies.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 1, Page 8
“Of all days Sunday was the day for formal afternoon visiting: ladies wore corsets, men wore coats, children wore shoes.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 1, Page 10
“Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem figured that Mr. Radley kept him chained to the bed most of the time. Atticus said no, it wasn’t that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people into ghosts.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 1, Page 12
Jem, Scout’s bold older brother, shapes her early views of Maycomb’s mysteries. delve into Jem’s bold insights.
“Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained – if you ate animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 1, Page 14
“Summer was on the way; Jem and I awaited it with impatience. Summer was our best season: it was sleeping on the back screened porch in cots, or trying to sleep in the tree house; summer was everything good to eat; it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape; but most of all, summer was Dill.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 4, Page 38
“Finders were keepers unless title was proven.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 4, Page 39
“He said I was the only girl he would ever love, then he neglected me. I beat him up, but it did no good.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 5, Page 46
“Time spent indoors was time wasted.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 5, Page 47
Scout’s boundless curiosity begins to fray as Maycomb’s rigid rules challenge her free spirit.
Growing Awareness: Lessons from School and Home
Schoolyard tussles and family wisdom spark Scout’s courage, pushing her to defy Maycomb’s norms.
“Miss Caroline seemed unaware that the ragged, denim-shirted and floursack-skirted first grade, most of whom had chopped cotton and fed hogs from the time they were able to walk, were immune to imaginative literature.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 2, Page 18
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 2, Page 20
Scout’s sharp wit shines as she equates reading to a vital instinct, revealing her innate intelligence.
“I thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand: it was a time-honored method of sealing oral contracts. Wondering what bargain we had made, I turned to the class for an answer, but the class looked back at me in puzzlement.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 2, Page 24
“Matches were dangerous, but cards were fatal.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 6, Page 62
“Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 7, Page 67
“Mr. Avery said it was written on the Rosetta Stone that when children disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the seasons would change: Jem and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the aberrations of nature, thereby causing unhappiness to our neighbors and discomfort to ourselves.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 8, Page 72
“I interrupted to make Uncle Jack let me know when he would pull it out, but he held up a bloody splinter in a pair of tweezers and said he yanked it while I was laughing, that was what was known as relativity.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 9, Page 89
“Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches, when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to do things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 9, Page 92
“When stalking one’s prey, it is best to take one’s time. Say nothing, and as sure as eggs he will become curious and emerge.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 9, Page 95
“Well, in the first place, you stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it- you just lit right into me. When Jem an’ I fuss Atticus doesn’t ever listen to just Jem’s side of it, he hears mine too”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 9, Page 97
Atticus’s steady guidance fuels Scout’s courage to question Maycomb’s ways. uncover Atticus’s moral wisdom.
“Atticus was feeble: he was nearly fifty.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 10, Page 102
“Nothing is more deadly than a deserted, waiting street.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 10, Page 108
Scout’s courage grows, readying her for the harsh truths lurking in Maycomb’s shadows.
Confronting Injustice: The Trial and Beyond
Scout’s compassion stirs as Maycomb’s prejudices boil, testing her belief in fairness during the trial.
“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, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 11, Page 115
Scout’s awe of Atticus’s quiet courage reveals her deepening respect for moral strength over physical might.
“With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 12, Page 132
“Dill was off again. Beautiful things floated around in his dreamy head. He could read two books to my one, but he preferred the magic of his own inventions. He could add and subtract faster than lightning, but he preferred his own twilight world, a world where babies slept, waiting to be gathered like morning lilies.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 14, Page 163
“In Maycomb, if one went for a walk with no definite purpose in mind, it was correct to believe one’s mind incapable of definite purpose.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 15, Page 169
“Mutual defiance made them alike.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 15, Page 173
“Atticus had said 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, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 15, Page 174
“Never, never, never, on cross-examination ask a witness a question you don’t already know the answer to, was a tenet I absorbed with my baby-food.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 17, Page 201
“Atticus sometimes said that one way to tell whether a witness was lying or telling the truth was to listen rather than watch.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 19, Page 219
Scout’s compassion aches as the trial exposes Maycomb’s deep divisions, shaking her faith in justice.
Mature Reflection: Empathy and Understanding
Through loss and revelation, Scout’s growth blooms into empathy, seeing Boo Radley and Maycomb anew.
“Things are always better in the morning.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 22, Page 243
“I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 23, Page 259
Scout’s unyielding fairness challenges Maycomb’s prejudice, a simple yet profound call for equality.
“Then Mr. Underwood’s meaning became clear: Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 25, Page 276
Scout’s compassion grasps the bitter truth of systemic injustice, marking her moral awakening.
“Equal rights for all, special privileges for none.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 26, Page 281
“Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was-she goin’ down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her- she was talking with Miss Stephen Crawford. I heard her say it’s time somebody taught ’em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us. Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home-”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 26, Page 283
Scout’s moral growth shines as she questions Maycomb’s hypocrisy, her sharp wit piercing adult contradictions.
“Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch as the narrator), Chapter 31, Page 320
Scout’s empathy blooms, recognizing Boo’s quiet heroism and her own debt to a misunderstood neighbor.
Boo Radley’s silent courage reshapes Scout’s heart. discover Boo’s silent courage.
“Nothin’s real scary except in books.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch), Chapter 31, Page 322
Scout’s journey ends with an empathetic heart, forever changed by Maycomb’s lessons and her neighbor’s grace.
Conclusion: Scout’s Timeless Voice
These 37 quotes trace Scout Finch’s transformation in To Kill a Mockingbird, from a curious child to a compassionate beacon of optimism. Harper Lee’s masterful storytelling through Scout’s sharp, fair voice challenges us to see the world with kinder eyes, cementing her as a timeless champion of justice.
A Note on Page Numbers & Edition:
We meticulously gathered these quotes from the Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2002 paperback edition, ISBN-13: 978-0060935467. Like Scout’s curious gaze, page numbers may shift across editions! Always cross-check with your copy for accurate citations.
Jeremy Mortis, founder of Ageless Investing, applies a rigorous analytical approach (the AAM framework) to distill timeless wisdom and contextualized quotes from classic literature, saving you time while deepening understanding. Learn more about Jeremy’s unique background and methodology on his author bio page.