...in other words, all I want to be is the Jane Austen of south Alabama Interview - March 1964

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

The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think. No book in the world equals the Bible for that.

The things that happen to people we never really know. What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets -

People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.

Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.

He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.

Things are always better in the morning.

It's not necessary to tell all you know.

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.

...but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.

I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known.

Pain of the past never goes away, you just find a way to deal with it. And in the future....... all the promise it holds.... that's what keeps you moving forward, and out of the darkness.

that he live in all respects so compactly and preparedly that, if an enemy take the town, he can, like the old philosopher, walk out the gate empty-handed without anxiety.

Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one Helen Keller is the other.

Behind the story I tell is the one I don't...Behind the story you hear is the one I wish I could make you hear.

I don't choose my projects based on genre, I choose them based on the role and whether or not I've tackled that yet, based on the director and such.

Reading stories is bad enough but writing them is worse.

Every mind is different; and the more it is unfolded, the more pronounced is that difference.

It's correct that I wanted health reform to do more to create choices and promote competition.

I want to praise activists through the years. I praise those of the past as well, to have them honored.