From the day I started to think politically and to develop my own moral values, from my earliest youth, I have been an ardent defender of Israel.

When I was a kid, there was no collaboration; it's you with a camera bossing your friends around. But as an adult, filmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself.

I wouldn't have filmed The Color Purple if the book had been a big fat novel. The reason I read it is because it is thin.

When I grow up, I still want to be a director.

A lot of the films I've made probably could have worked just as well 50 years ago, and that's just because I have a lot of old-fashion values.

There's a lot of confusion about the political ideologies of both parties [Democrats and Republicans] have switched 180 degrees in 150 years. It just too confusing. Everybody claiming Lincoln as their own. And everybody should claim Lincoln as their own, because he represents all of us, and what he did basically provided the opportunities that all of us are enjoying today.

Everybody who works for Amblin Television has to do five jobs.