How did we suddenly become entranced with gangster culture? I saw it this morning on campus. When did the black community say we should all look like criminals?

The business is so upside down now. It's not just about the bling-bling.

Life is not without a little adventure, Adventure is not without a little danger, Success is not without a little failure

Ninety percent of the time, you're going to hear no. It took me seven years to make 'Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored.' Nobody wanted to see the movie made. I got the movie made.

Just having hope ain't going to cut it. You've got to have hope, passion and skills.

Black people don't even question things any more, they simply follow the lead.

A film should be an experience. You should feel something. It should motivate you to feel something.

Why would you create a movie for black people if you don't understand the history and perspective of the people you are doing it for? You need historical perspective to make sound decisions.

One problem when you get energy and want to go with it is that with so large a cast of talented people, you have to wait three or four shows for some 'meat.'

The name of the game is efficiency; we have to play that game with our toys and our brains.

I can’t really act the way I want to act, or say what I want to say all the time. And a lot of times, I cover that up with a smile.

You should never have a relationship based on guilt over someone's poor choices.

What am I but a little flesh, a little breath, and the thinking part that rules the whole?

People often ask me what happened to my first husband? And I say, I killed him.

People think I'm being stupid or false humble. It's not. I don't think I always fit in. Maybe it's a complex you get as someone who has always been fighting on the outside.

There's no downside to fame and people who whine about it make me sick. It's the greatest thing in the world.

He who is passionate and hasty is generally honest. It is your cool, dissembling hypocrite of whom you should beware.

The curse of God must have been on our people when we chose him out of so many noble sons of the South, who would have carried us safely through this Revolution.

Always cut the cards...and smile when you lose.

When you're dealing with something sensitive, which is about culture, and its effect on a generation, you don't want any stones not to be turned over.