People are going to think what they think, regardless. I’m not dancing around your question. People are going to think what they think. Spike Lee More Quotes by Spike Lee More Quotes From Spike Lee American slavery was not a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It was a holocaust. My ancestors are slaves. Stolen from Africa. I will honor them. Spike Lee slavery holocaust honor All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love. Spike Lee stories motivational directors You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do. Spike Lee research knows people I ain't Martin Luther King. I don't need a dream. I have a plan. Spike Lee kings dream needs If you can't take a hit, you're not going to last long, that's for sure. Spike Lee lasts ifs long Critics like to build you up, tear you down, and then, if you're lucky, build you up again. Spike Lee lucky tears criticism 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. Spike Lee black drug men I wouldn't be doing motherfu**ing films for almost three decades if every time I did something that someone didn't like I went in a fu**ing cocoon and just hid there and didn't make my art. Spike Lee cocoons three art I don't think racism can be eliminated in my lifetime ... or my children's or grandchildren's. But I think it's something we have to strive for. I'm going to keep working toward that day coming. Spike Lee racism children thinking Fight the power that be. Fight the power. Spike Lee fighting Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. Spike Lee endeavor hardest film Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema since the days of D.W. Griffith. Spike Lee cinema black people Our greatness, our talent has never been the question. It's been a matter of grappling for control over what we do. Spike Lee talent greatness matter 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. Spike Lee doctors important thinking I mean, I think there's a lot of hope in my work. I don't think I'm a total pessimist, so I think you can find hope in all my films. Some more than others, but there's definitely... I think we want to convey the feeling of hope with the montage at the end. Spike Lee want feelings thinking Racism is when you have laws set up, systematically put in a way to keep people from advancing, to stop the advancement of a people. Black people have never had the power to enforce racism, and so this is something that white America is going to have to work out themselves. If they decide they want to stop it, curtail it, or to do the right thing... then it will be done, but not until then. Spike Lee law white america It is really important that young people find something that they want to do and pursue it with passion. I'm very passionate about filmmaking. It's what I love to do. Spike Lee passion important people America doesn't have the moral right to tell other people what to do. To say the whole world has to fall into line is you-know-what. I hope more people will rise up. Spike Lee america people fall Music is, for me, a great tool of a filmmaker, the same way cinematography, the acting, editing, post-production, the costumes are. You know, to help you tell a story. Spike Lee acting editing way 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. Spike Lee photography directors looks