Today marks Spike Lee’s 60th birthday. The iconic film director discovered his passion for filmmaking during the summer of 1977. Lee said, “That summer, New York City was in dire financial straits. There were no summer jobs… So I spent that whole summer running around New York City shooting stuff with my Super 8 camera.”
When Lee returned to Morehouse College for his junior year, he declared a major in Mass Communications, and went on to master his craft at New York University’s film school. His brilliant body of work includes timeless classics such as: “She’s Gotta Have It”, “Do the Right Thing”, “School Daze” and “Malcolm X”. Here are 10 of Spike Lee’s most inspirational quotes to celebrate his birthday.
1. “I believe in destiny. But I also believe that you can’t just sit back and let destiny happen. A lot of times, an opportunity might fall into your lap, but you have to be ready for that opportunity.”
2. “All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That’s what I love.”
3. “Power is knowing your past.”
4. “Some people might call me a hardhead, but I’m not going to let other people dictate to me who I should be or the stories I should tell. That doesn’t register with me.”
5. “I think it is very important that films make people look at what they’ve forgotten.”
6. “What’s the difference between Hollywood characters and my characters? Mine are real.”
7. “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.”
8. “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.
9. “As a people we do not need anyone else’s stamp of approval.”
10. “Our greatness, our talent has never been the question. It’s been a matter of grappling for control over what we do.”
