John Ridley Quotes

As a writer, as a storyteller, you have to have your emotions close, and the older I've gotten, the less I've worried about not displaying emotions.

I don't know when I made that active decision to be a writer or to try to write, but I know I always liked storytelling.

When it comes to fighting for freedom, those who are willing to fight should not be limited by our bigotry. Only rewarded with our gratitude.

Facts tend to take the punch out of a good hate rant and are therefore left best unsaid.

For every horrific event, something beautiful happens.

My kids will find me walking around the house talking to myself and think I'm going crazy. I like to read the scripts out loud and really get the rhythm for the dialogue.

There's something very special about knowing what you want to do and knowing the story you want to tell, but finding it together.

With fear of stating the obvious: Freedom belongs to 'We the People,' not 'They the Politicians.'

I've no desire to start a movement, to be the first name on an open petition, or to be the poster child for disgruntled writers.

Quite simply, quite plainly, just by virtue of his being, Barack Obama is America. The first true American to lead our nation.

Even I haven't downed enough L.A. Kool-Aid to believe that somehow Hollywood movies are an overt instrument of morality.

I can tell you from personal experience it gets a little tiring having to make the rounds on cable shows to explain 'what's up with black folks.'

Bigots are actually funny to me in the way that people who still wear parachute pants give me a chuckle.

I want to explore different topics and present them in slightly different ways.

I never wanted to show up and just say, "Okay, what are we doing today? Let's wing it!"

When people come in the door and they have something, discovering and exploring the character is a real joy.

You can treat faith as part of people's it's lives.

Depending on which side you're on, maybe the police are too objective and need to be a bit more subjective.

When entertainment works the best, you're creating an apparatus to convey emotions.

We all hope that the police and prosecutors are objective. That's their job, but sometimes it's not true.

Much as banks don't care where your money's coming from, the Electoral College is all 'don't ask, don't care' when it comes to votes.

I understand politicos gotta make bank. But cloistering with the Hollywood elite is not how you prove you're a man of the people.

When I was young and I look at the things that I wrote - I don't think that was the word they used back then, but they had a hipster sensibility. They were a little irreverent.

Barack Obama is the New Generation and the hot light of a dawn that goes way beyond clever talk of morning in America.

I'm sorry, but chick fights are sexy. If you don't think so, you're either an uptight woman or a lying man.

There is not a country on earth whose people don't deserve to be free and safe.

I've written films that are violent. I'm not big on sitting and watching violence.

I think I'm an overly emotional person. I feel a lot, but I don't believe that's unique to me or that's how I am able to do the things I do.

Whatever you do, whether you're doing a television drama or a romantic comedy, you want to be relevant, to some degree.

There's no substitute for imagination, but creativity is only enhanced when forged with life experience.

Obama is the New Generation and the hot light of a dawn that goes way beyond clever talk of morning in America.