Spike Lee Quotes

Since the days of slavery, if you were a good singer or dancer, it was your job to perform for the master after dinner.

As a people we do not need anyone else's stamp of approval.

All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love.

People of color have a constant frustration of not being represented, or being misrepresented, and these images go around the world.

I live in New York City, the stories of my films take place in New York; I'm a New York filmmaker.

I like people to look like they're floating.

I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully.

I give interracial couples a look. Daggers. They get uncomfortable when they see me on the street.

I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator.

And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels.

I am a hybrid. I do independent films and also do Hollywood films - I love them both.

Power is knowing your past.

A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there.

I've got "Sometimers." Sometimes I remember and sometimes I forget.

A lot of times, we censor ourselves before the censor even gets there.

I think if people looked at my body of work, they'd see a great breadth of work.

If you can't take a hit, you're not going to last long, that's for sure.

I had a great education. From kindergarten to John Dewey High School in Coney Island, I am public-school educated.

Our greatness, our talent has never been the question. It's been a matter of grappling for control over what we do.

Critics like to build you up, tear you down, and then, if you're lucky, build you up again.

I really don't deal with hypotheticals.

Fight the power that be. Fight the power.

I miss my brother. Prince was a funny cat. Great sence of humor.

Always be mine, puppy please, puppy please.

What's the difference between Hollywood characters and my characters? Mine are real.

Stick around long enough, you'll get some grace.

'She's Gotta Have It' was shot in twelve days and two six-day weeks.

I like to work with the same people when I can, and you want to get people with the same interests that you have, and the same aesthetic.

We're the most violent nation on earth. There's no getting away from that. But you've got to look at it on a broader level.

Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind.

I knew I was never going to play professional sport, but I loved playing and I went to all the games I could afford to.

For me, I believe in God, God is real.

There's an unwritten law that you cannot have a Jewish character in a film who isn't 100 percent perfect, or you're labeled anti-Semitic.

My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker.

I don't think my films are going to get rid of racism or prejudice. I think the best thing my films can do is provoke discussion.

It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody.

Those that'll tell don't know, and those that know won't tell.

When you love something it's not a job anymore.

I may have been born yesterday, but I stayed up all night.

I've always tried to - when I've been able to - support young artists, no matter what medium.

I think people who have faults are a lot more interesting than people who are perfect.

Everything I do is always scrutinised. But that's all I'll say about that.

I'm surprised that Hollywood and networks have not been diverse as other industries.

I tend to favour films that have multiple plot and story lines, multiple characters and ensemble pieces.

I don't think I'm a total pessimist, so I think you can find hope in all my films.

I don't like acting; not in front of the camera.

If you have a talented family, you should be shot if you don't use them.

You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do.

I've never seen black men with fine white women. They be ugly. Mugly dogs.

People think I'm this angry black man walking around in a constant state of rage.

It gets dangerous when you start allowing people to validate your work ...

I think it is very important that films make people look at what they've forgotten.

American slavery was not a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It was a holocaust. My ancestors are slaves. Stolen from Africa. I will honor them.

I collect names for characters. Names are valuable; they can be your first source of insight into a character.

He revolutionized music videos. Before Michael Jackson, MTV refused to play African-American artists.

I'm not the go-to guy. Everybody is trying to tell their story and have different ways of telling it.

Most human beings will not stand in front of a stage and tell you about the bad things they did.

It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are.

Cause mo better makes it mo better.

I'm blessed, I can afford to send my children to private school.

'Red Hook Summer' is another chapter in my chronicles of Brooklyn.

I'll be vilified if I shoot a film in Toronto for New York. And rightfully so!

I never understood the concept of showing everything in the trailer. Why go to a movie if there's no surprise? I can't do it like that.

First of all, what in this world does not revolve around money? But money is a big part of film, unlike a lot of other art forms.

I get offered to do stuff where the money's nice but it's not something I want to do - I get offered a lot of commercials too.

I ain't Martin Luther King. I don't need a dream. I have a plan.

I don't see any negativity with what Brad Pitt is doing with his Make It Right Foundation, or what Sean Penn is trying to do in Haiti.