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" 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. "

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" A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there. "

" I think the best actors in the world are here in New York City. And this city is just so vibrant the energy is just phenomenal. Great crews here. All the technicians, all the artists that work in this industry. I've just been very happy with the body that we've been able to do, especially those films we shot here in New York City. "

" '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. "

Do The Right Thing

" 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. "

" I don't like acting; not in front of the camera. "

" I used the principles of Kickstarter to make 'She's Gotta Have It.' We filmed that in 1985 to 1986. The final cost was $175,000. I didn't have that money. It was friends, grants, donations. We saved our bottles for the nickel deposit. "

" 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. "

" 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'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. "

" For me, I believe in God, God is real. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

Do The Right Thing

" '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. "

" 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. "

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

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

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

" I'm blessed, I can afford to send my children to private school. "

" 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. "

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

" Since the days of slavery, if you were a good singer or dancer, it was your job to perform for the master after dinner. "

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

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

" I had a great education. From kindergarten to John Dewey High School in Coney Island, I am public-school educated. "

" My grandmother lived to be 100 years old. Her grandmother was a slave, yet she was a college graduate in the Spellman class of 1917. She taught art for 50 years and she saved her Social Security checks for her children's education. "

" Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. "

" 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. "

" I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully. "

" I think it would be very boring dramatically to have a film where everybody was a lawyer or doctor and had no faults. To me, the most important thing is to be truthful. "

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