I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator.

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 wonder of life begins in the womb of a woman.

A word meant something only between people, and life’s meaning, its virtue, had something to do with the depth of the relationships we form.

Waiting is a risk to something or nothing, its on your own Decision if you'll stay and still with your Patience.

You may have gathered that I am not the most cheerful of revellers - some characterise me as the death and soullessness of any party but it wasn't always so, believe me.

Actors have to be there and do the work, and that's enough.

It's time for women to make their voices heard. Their silence on the subject of war and peace is deafening.

Charity is not one of the virtues practiced on the stock market. The heart of a bank is but one of many viscera.

Protecting yourself from failure is probably not a good way to live.

I try to have no absolute nos. I love french fries, I like a good burger, and I like pie. And that's okay.

Even for the people in the business who are real music lovers it's really about putting things in the right boxes, and my style doesn't fit into a box.