Harper Lee Quotes: 15 Inspirational Sayings By 'To Kill A Mockingbird' Author

Harper Lee, the author of the world-renowned "To Kill A Mocking Bird" died on Feb. 19, 2016, at the age of 89, but her brilliance lives on through her work.

"To Kill A Mocking Bird,” published in 1960 — a book for which Lee received the Pulitzer prize — is a timeless piece of work that confronts the glaring issue of racism in the western society.

Apart from her writing skill, Lee was also known for her inspirational speeches — lessons she often drew from her own life. Here are a few quotes from the legendary author on her second death anniversary, taken from Good Reads, Brainy Quote and Buzzfeed:

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

“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.”

“I never expected any sort of success with 'Mockingbird'... I sort of hoped someone would like it enough to give me encouragement.”

“Well, they're Southern people, and if they know you are working at home they think nothing of walking right in for coffee. But they wouldn't dream of interrupting you at golf.”

“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.”

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

“Folks don't like to have somebody around knowing more than they do.”

“They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”

"Things are always better in the morning."

“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.”

“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, that white man is trash”

"Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself ... It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent."

"Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends."

"Remember this also: it's always easy to look back and see what we were, yesterday, ten years ago. It is hard to see what we are. If you can master that trick, you'll get along."

"I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide."