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" 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 Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. "

Spike Lee

Summer

Dream

Know

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

" Fight the power that be. Fight the power. "

Spike Lee

Power

Fight

" I knew I was never going to play professional sport, but I loved playing and I went to all the games I could afford to. "

" We grew up in a very creative environment and were exposed to the arts at a very young age, so it's not a surprise that all of us are in some form of the arts. "

" I live in New York City, the stories of my films take place in New York; I'm a New York filmmaker. "

" '25th Hour,' like a lot of my films, takes place in New York City. I've been very fortunate to make films in the city that I live. I mean, it's great going home at night instead of being on location. "

" 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. "

" 'She's Gotta Have It' and 'School Daze,' I really didn't know what I was doing. And the biggest indicator of that was the acting. 'Do the Right Thing' was like the first film where I really felt comfortable working with actors. "

" I get offered to do stuff where the money's nice but it's not something I want to do - I get offered a lot of commercials too. "

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

" I don't think I'm a total pessimist, so I think you can find hope in all my films. "

" I'd like to state that Spike Lee is not saying that African American culture is just for black people alone to enjoy and cherish. Culture is for everybody. "

" I think that every minority in the United States of America knows everything about the dominant culture. From the time you can think, you are bombarded with images from TV, film, magazines, newspapers. "

" There's a lot of Americans, black and white, who think that we've arrived where we need to be and nothing else needs to be done and affirmative action needs to be dismantled. "

" If we became students of Malcolm X, we would not have young black men out there killing each other like they're killing each other now. Young black men would not be impregnating young black women at the rate going on now. We'd not have the drugs we have now, or the alcoholism. "

" A spine to my films that's become more evident to me is that many are about the choices people make, and the reverberations of those choices. You go this way, or that way, and either way, there's going to be consequences. "

Spike Lee

Consequences

Choices

" My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker. "

" 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. "

" 'Do the Right Thing' was my first union film. I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white males. Especially the Teamsters. So we had some conversations. "

" I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I'm still bankable. "

" I am a hybrid. I do independent films and also do Hollywood films - I love them both. "

Spike Lee

Independent

Hollywood

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

Spike Lee

Respect

Intelligence

" People sometimes forget all the films that we've done. They remember the likes of 'Malcolm X' and 'Do the Right Thing.' But I've been working since 1986. From the beginning, I was determined to not just be a flash in the pan. I've got to keep up with Woody Allen. He's lapping me. "

" I'm very careful about how I portray violence in my films. I do believe that violence, especially violent video games, are not a good thing for young kids. "

" You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do. "

" Amongst black people, you have always heard it said that once a black man reaches a certain level, especially if you are an entertainer, you get a white trophy woman. I didn't make that up. "

" People of color have a constant frustration of not being represented, or being misrepresented, and these images go around the world. "

" I think my work shows that I love women. I understand where these types of criticisms are coming from because black people have been so dogged out in the media, they're just extra sensitive. "

" Violence is a part of America. I don't want to single out rap music. Let's be honest. America's the most violent country in the history of the world, that's just the way it is. We're all affected by it. "

" And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels. "