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" If I had to find one characteristic that is most symbolic of me, I think I am tenacious. "

Melvin Van Peebles

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" I graduated from college when I was 20. To get enough money to finish college, I went into the ROTC, and I was an officer in the Air Force before I could buy a drink. "

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" The graphic novel is a great form that can be used to marry the book format with the movie. "

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" Our minds are not our friends when they realize we have work to do - they're our enemies. "

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" Over time, you accumulate a lot of life material. "

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" I'm too short to play basketball and too nervous to steal. "

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" Blacks had a huge role in settling the West, but you'd never know it from Western movies. "

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" The key to empowerment is no more complicated than what Jesse Jackson said, 'We are somebody.' But the 'We are somebody' I would like to be in the larger sense: not just the urban African-American but homo sapiens in general - We are somebody. "

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" I have no illusions about running. I hate running. If I could feel as good as I felt at 30 without running, I wouldn't do it, but that's not the way it works! So - no pain, no gain. "

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" I'm from the Southside of Chicago. "

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" Before I made 'Sweetback,' I had a three-picture deal with Columbia and enough juice, if I was real clever with it, to proclaim that I wanted to do an independent film. "

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" Whitey is uptight about offending blacks without really knowing what offends blacks. "

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" Don't ask me something if you don't want to know. Because I will tell you. "

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" The artistic world is one of high nuance. "

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" Somebody once asked me, 'Melvin, how'd you get to the top?' It was simple. Nobody would let me in at the bottom. "

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" Truth of the matter is, I can't even read or write music. "

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" You've got to really check on what you're doing: check and recheck it seven other times to be prepared. Sometimes, people get carried away with the artistic-ness of the endeavor and don't quite have their game face on when the time comes. It's always a pretty costly mistake. "

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" I'm pretty much a loner. That's not good, bad, or indifferent. "

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" Me and modesty don't mix. "

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" I went to a number of schools when I was a kid on the south side of Chicago. "

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" There's something on Wall Street called PIG - panic, ignorance, and greed. Those are the big sins. I'm not greedy, I knew I was ignorant, and I didn't panic. "

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" In the morning, I get the paper. I look in the obituary column. If I don't see myself in there, I get up. "

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" I'm not a normal director. You can't look at me that way. What's kept me alive is my technical skill at doing other things. "

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" There is a downside to affordable technology, and that's mediocrity. I mean, just 'cause you can afford it don't mean you can do it. "

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" I said to my kids, 'Learn the business of America if you want to be an artist in America. The rest of that stuff, the art part, you could pick up in an hour and a half.' "

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" In trying to cross over to the mainstream, some people stopped writing what they witnessed. "

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