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.

I think black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We can't just sit back and let other people define our existence.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

The stories I read, strengthen my spirit in any situation.

You can do this by disciplining yourself to be selective in what you read, see, hear, say to yourself and the influence of others.

Developing leaders without a model is like building a house without a plan.

A film is a petrified fountain of thought.

Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.

My characters all start with rhythms and sounds. Once I hear the voice and get into the rhythm, the attitude and the physicality just come out on their own.

I think people try to jam a lot of artificial plot devices into a lot of romantic comedies, and they don't treat it with the respect I believe it deserves.

I just know that young people suffer, and I also know music is one of the things that help you get through - music and friends.

My mum is incredibly intelligent.

I'm sure if Brawn GP keep plying me with champagne and putting gorgeous Virgin girls either side of me, you never know!