Spike Lee quotes

I think people who have faults are a lot more interesting than people who are perfect. (Spike Lee)
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 Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. View quote
Spike Lee
Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
A lot of times, we censor ourselves before the censor even gets there. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
Since the days of slavery, if you were a good singer or dancer, it was your job to perform for the master after dinner. (Spike Lee)
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. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker. View quote
Spike Lee
Any time you talk about the look of the film, it's not just the director and the director of photography. You have to include the costume designer and the production designer. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
Fight the power that be. Fight the power. View quote
Spike Lee
I think it is very important that films make people look at what they've forgotten. View quote
Spike Lee
All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love. View quote
Spike Lee
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. (Spike Lee)
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. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
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. View quote
Spike Lee
I'd like to state that Spike Lee is not saying that African American culture is just for black people alone to enjoy and cherish. Culture is for everybody. View quote
Spike Lee