8 Inspiring Quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird‘s Atticus Finch

“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.” — Scout Finch

Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird chronicles lawyer Atticus Finch’s defense of a wrongfully-convicted Black man in Depression Era Alabama. Adored for his courage and integrity, Atticus has since become one of the most iconic literary heroes of the 20th century.

In honor of today’s announcement that Harper Lee will publish a To Kill a Mockingbird sequel this summer, we rounded up eight inspiring quotes spoken by Atticus in the classic novel:

1. “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.”

2. “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

3. “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.”