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 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.

If you want to know where your heart is, look where your mind goes when it wanders.

In many ways, religion comes from the same place in us that art comes from. The language of the human heart if poetry

I stress a lot, sometimes.

True contact between beings is established only by mute presence, by apparent non-communication, by that mysterious and wordless exchange which resembles inward prayer.

Love is one of the most subtle blessings that the All-Merciful One has bestowed upon humanity.

Professionally, I don’t necessarily have to adhere to a certain dress code. However, I think that comfort is crucial. Otherwise, you won’t be able to have fun and express yourself.

The sufferings of Christ are the means of forgiveness of sin and eternal glory

Potential unexpressed turns to pain.

How do you expect to communicate with the ocean, when you can’t even understand one another?

When am I happy and when am I sad and what is the difference? What do I need to know to stay alive? What is true in the world?