“I don't much like it when people commit unsavory acts and try to shift the blame onto me.”

“There are no totally generous acts. All "acts" have an element of calculation. One black ox slaughtered on Christmas does not wipe out a year of careful manipulation of gifts given to serve your own ends. After all, to kill an animal and share the meat with people is really no more than Ju/'hoansi do for each other every day and with far less fan fare.”

“To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”

“Until we learn to love others as ourselves, it's difficult to blame broken people who desperately try to affirm themselves when no one else will.”

“I try to give'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason.”

“Death is inevitable. But the meaning people attach to death, its causes and aftermath, is culturally given. Without meaning, without culture making sense of things, life would be impossible.”

“See there?" Jem was scowling triumphantly. "Nothin' to it. I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl its mortifyin”