Something to Ponder

It has been a while since I made a serious post so I think I am due. I read a little in the summer and I ran across a paragraph in a very famous book. Here is bit of it:

"Wh-oh yes, you mean why do I pretend? Well, it's very simple," he said. "Some folks don't like-the way I live. Now I could say the hell with 'em, I don't care if they don't like it. I do say I don't care if they don't like it, right enough-but i don't say the hell with 'em, see?"

"I try to give 'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason...folks can say...That's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does."

"It ain't honest but it's mighty helpful to folks...I live like I do because that's the way I want to live."

What does this mean? Well there could be a few ideas to be brought forth by this very short segment of a rather long book. Perhaps it could be taken to mean you should be careful about what stereotypes you cast on people. They can have more of an affect than you know. Perhaps the person that you continually view in a certain way has taken on that persona because of being told so many times that they are just "that way". Maybe after a person hears so many times they are a certain way, it just becomes easier to be that way. Just some food for thought. I would love to hear other peoples interpretation of the short segment.

Can anybody name which very famous book this passage is from? The picture is a hint. How about which character said it?