Being the first person to go to college that really related to me from the movie [The Butler] because being black and going to college everyone puts so much hope into you.

Every African-American I know has two faces. There's the face that we have for ourselves and the face we put on for white America for the places we have to get to.

I've dodged all sorts of bullets in Hollywood to get my movies made. I'm tough.

I can't do movies where you start thinking "Where's the commercial appeal? How are we going to market this?" It's not that kind of party.

I was always intrigued with European cinema, and hated most American cinema. I didn't like the one, two, three - boom! style, with a neat and tidy ending. That was never my scene.

I don't want to sell my soul to Hollywood - to just make run-of-the-mill stuff.

I want to go to places that are unexpected of me, because people really think they have me pegged. I want to do something different, like maybe do a space movie or a musical.

Trust is hard to get from actors, and for me to give to actors.

I don't work with fear, and I don't work with actors that are fearful.

I'm not tough when it comes to people criticizing the people that I protect, and those are the actors. It makes them scared to do it again for another director.

My philosophy has always been, you don't put your name in front of a movie.

Problems are just businesses waiting for the right entrepreneur to unlock the value.

If you listen to wise sayings, you will have a bright future.

Okay, but if you try to get me to pray with you, I walk.

I mean, don't forget the earth's about five thousand million years old, at least. Who can afford to live in the past?

I can't stand when people use drugs as an escape. It's like, everybody suffers. Deal with your issues, you'll feel so much better.

I don't use no cologne, none of that. I just use cocoa butter and that's it. Everything I need is natural besides going to the shower and taking soap and shampoo and conditioner.

Become friendly with the present moment, because if you do not become friendly with the present moment you cannot become friendly with life.

One of the tests that I frequently use in an interaction is I push on the idea and what I'm looking for is both flexibility & persistence.

I'm supporting anything that we can do to find out how this stuff is happening.

Pessimists calculate the odds. Optimists believe they can overcome them.