Spike Lee Quotations

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

A spine to my films that's become more evident to me is that many are about the choices people make, and the reverberations of those choices. You go this way, or that way, and either way, there's going to be consequences.

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

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

I am very fortunate I can send my kids to private school, but everybody does not have the money. If you cannot get your kid in a good school today, your kids are going to be behind the eight ball.

I think it would be very boring dramatically to have a film where everybody was a lawyer or doctor and had no faults. To me, the most important thing is to be truthful.

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.

I'm very careful about how I portray violence in my films. I do believe that violence, especially violent video games, are not a good thing for young kids.

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

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

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

Fight the power that be. Fight the power.

I didn't dream about being a director. I didn't know I wanted to do something with film until the summer between my sophomore and junior years at Morris College in Atlanta, Georgia.

People sometimes forget all the films that we've done. They remember the likes of 'Malcolm X' and 'Do the Right Thing.' But I've been working since 1986. From the beginning, I was determined to not just be a flash in the pan. I've got to keep up with Woody Allen. He's lapping me.

Violence is a part of America. I don't want to single out rap music. Let's be honest. America's the most violent country in the history of the world, that's just the way it is. We're all affected by it.

I used the principles of Kickstarter to make 'She's Gotta Have It.' We filmed that in 1985 to 1986. The final cost was $175,000. I didn't have that money. It was friends, grants, donations. We saved our bottles for the nickel deposit.

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

I'm riding my man Obama. I think he's a visionary. Actually, Barack told me the first date he took Michelle to was 'Do the Right Thing.' I said, Thank God I made it. Otherwise you would have taken her to 'Soul Man.' Michelle would have been like 'What's wrong with this brother?'

I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture we have as a people, from music, novels, the streets.

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

I think that anyone who lives in New York, who's lived here, who's spent any time here, knows that it's basically a love-hate relationship, you might say. Even though I still think it's the greatest city in the world and I wouldn't live anywhere else, there're still things about it one doesn't like. The love far outweighs the negative.

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

Don't think that because you haven't heard from me for a while that I went to sleep. I am still here, like a spirit roaming the night. Thirsty, hungry, seldom stopping to rest.

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

'She's Gotta Have It' and 'School Daze,' I really didn't know what I was doing. And the biggest indicator of that was the acting. 'Do the Right Thing' was like the first film where I really felt comfortable working with actors.

If we became students of Malcolm X, we would not have young black men out there killing each other like they're killing each other now. Young black men would not be impregnating young black women at the rate going on now. We'd not have the drugs we have now, or the alcoholism.

Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema since the days of D.W. Griffith.

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

We have a sort of understanding that works on the set. When you're shooting, the cash register is ringing . Denzel and I know where we're going before shooting starts. Then, it's a matter of doing it.

We wanted to truthfully reflect the rage and the tone of what people felt.

So I missed the wedding, huh? I didn't get an invitation. What's up with that?

Mike Tyson is the most complex person I've ever met in my life. I've known Mike since 1986. We're both from Brooklyn. I didn't know him growing up, but once he became heavyweight champion, I knew him then.

One more, we catch De Niro and Scorsese. I hope we catch them, and I hope we pass them.

I wouldn't put anything past the U.S. government when it comes to people of color. There is too much history ... going back to when the U.S. army gave smallpox-infested blankets to Native Americans.

I think that every minority in the United States of America knows everything about the dominant culture. From the time you can think, you are bombarded with images from TV, film, magazines, newspapers.

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

Where are the slaves? Who's picking the cotton?

Too many people are being bowled over by Bush and Tony Blair in Britain. It's ludicrous to expect the whole world to follow what they want.

When I saw the devastation on TV and in the news...it (didn't) prepare me for what I saw there. You hear these people's stories, and its heartbreaking.

'Do the Right Thing' was my first union film. I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white males. Especially the Teamsters. So we had some conversations.

Terrance Howard did a great job. I wanna see him win. I voted for him.

People say, 'She's so successful' and 'Look at her position as a black woman.' She is a black woman who grew up in Birmingham, Ala.,and said that she never experienced a day of racism in her life.

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

People didn't really believe me when I told them that I was going to be a filmmaker,

People could not believe, especially the residents of the Ninth Ward, that there wasn't hanky-panky in the flooding.

There were a couple of brothers with large screen televisions.

I'm glad to be here on the day we honor Dr. King, a true giant, and it's our responsibility to teach our children what the man was and how this is not just a day you don't go to school.

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

I didn't roll out of bed and direct Malcolm X. Whatever you do, go out there and work hard.

A lot of my directing we do in the rehearsal process. We don't want to start discussing the character motivation and stuff like that on the set, so we do a lot of that stuff beforehand in rehearsal.

The film and TV industries are being used as a scapegoat for what has happened.

I believe in destiny. But I also believe that you can’t just sit back and let destiny happen. A lot of times, an opportunity might fall into your lap, but you have to be ready for that opportunity. You can’t sit there waiting on it. A lot of times you are going to have to get out there and make it happen.

I am trying to stay away from this position of me "returning to my roots." As if my roots are that I'm only comfortable working on low-budget, small films. That's not the case at all.

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.

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

One of the great things about African-Americans is that we've always had this attitude: We make do with what we got. It comes from our ancestors being slaves.

I like people to look like they're floating.

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

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

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

If people go to IMDB, they will see that I'm very comfortable with independent cinema, and doing studio films too. For me this is not an either/or situation.

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

I want to tell stories, I don't really try to get boxed in by a specific genre.

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

I'm a storyteller, and there's some genres I like. I don't think I'm ever going to do science fiction, but I want to do a musical one day. I want to tell stories, I don't really try to get boxed in by a specific genre.

I'm always open to new, innovative stuff and people trying to do stuff in a different way. I knew that the theatrical release would be like getting on the launch pad for Amazon Prime but I was okay with that because I think what Jeff Bezos and Ted Hope are doing is innovative.

I'm always open. I try not to have a closed mind. In fact the only reason why I'm able to continue to make films since 1986 is I have been adaptable. If I weren't flexible I sure wouldn't be making films this many years as I've been doing it. I've been making a film a year almost since 1986 and that's hard. That ain't easy.

This film [Chi-Raq]is a declaration. It's a scream. It's a warning. And I can really break it down to one scene. That's the scene where we have the eulogy and sermon that is given by the great John Cusack.

I really don't deal with hypotheticals.

I don't like to use the word 'remake', I think reinterpretation is a better word. It's just a matter of respecting the source, and then trying to make your own film, and trying not to be inhibited by being so beholden to every single thing... We respect the source, but we make changes to it.

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

My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker.

I think the best actors in the world are here in New York City. And this city is just so vibrant the energy is just phenomenal. Great crews here. All the technicians, all the artists that work in this industry. I've just been very happy with the body that we've been able to do, especially those films we shot here in New York City.

I don't get tripped up in technology. I use technology as a tool. 'Oldboy' we shot Two Pro 35mm. For 'Da Blood of Jesus,' we shot digitally. We shot the new Sony F55. It's a 4K camera.

Amongst black people, you have always heard it said that once a black man reaches a certain level, especially if you are an entertainer, you get a white trophy woman. I didn't make that up.

I always give the example, if you turn on the radio today, black radio, Lenny Kravitz is not black. Bob Marley wasn't black: in the beginning, only white college stations played Bob Marley.

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.

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

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.

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

'Do the Right Thing' was like the first film where I really felt comfortable working with actors.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

There’s always been this hocus-pocus or magical, mystical thing associated with the making of film that sort of psyches people out and makes them think that this cannot be done; that this is a craft that cannot be learned.

Because many advances have happened, we've lost the urgency (and that's just human nature) that we had before, when we couldn't vote, couldn't use mass transportation, or drink from the fountains.

I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I'm still bankable.

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

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

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.

A woman who is very secure in herself, what she's about, what she wants to do, who probably figures that she's a prize catch-sooner or later he's going to come around.

We grew up in a very creative environment and were exposed to the arts at a very young age, so it's not a surprise that all of us are in some form of the arts.

Right now a lot of people are still choosing to go to Toronto instead of shooting in New York City, something I haven't done and something I hope I'll never have to do.

I consider Madonna a friend, and she sure knows how to work the publicity machine. Of course, I don't have breasts. If I did have, I'd be in the number one spot over Madonna.

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