230 Quotes by Spike Lee

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

My people, my people, what can I say; say what I can. I saw it but didn't believe it; I didn't believe what I saw. Are we gonna live together? Together are we gonna live?

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

I decided to be a filmmaker between my sophomore and junior years at Morehouse. Before I left for the summer of 1977, my advisor told me I really had to declare a major when I came back, because I'd used all my electives in my first two years. I went back to New York and I couldn't find a job. There were none to be had. And that previous Christmas someone gave me a Super-8 camera, so I just started to shoot stuff.

Fight the power that be. Fight the power.

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.

Sex and racism have always been tied together. Look at the thousands of black men who got lynched and castrated. The reason the Klan came into being was to protect white southern women.

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.

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