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Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg Quotes

Film director

Steven Spielberg, born on December 18, 1946, is an accomplished film director from the United States. His works span a variety of genres, from science fiction to history, from adventure to war, each captivating audiences with its unique charm. Spielberg is renowned for his unique perspective and profound understanding of the art of film.

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Famous Steven Spielberg Quotes

“When my children were born, I made the choice I wanted them to be raised as Jews and to have a Jewish education.”

Children Made Wanted Choices Born Raised Jew My Children

Author:Steven Spielberg

“When war comes, two things happen - profits go way, way up and all perishables go way, way down. There becomes a market for them.”

Way Two War Happens Profit Things Happen Two Things

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Whether in success or in failure, I'm proud of every single movie I've ever directed.”

Actors Proud Movie

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I think documentaries are the greatest way to educate an entire generation that doesn't often look back to learn anything about the history that provided a safe haven for so many of us today.”

Thinking Way Looks Today Generations Havens Safe Educate Documentaries Safe Haven

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we're too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone.”

Stories Ability Walks Party Technology Our Lives Imagine Wonderful Office Busy Phones Cells Too Busy Cell Phone Daydreaming Cafeteria

Author:Steven Spielberg

“As a Jew I am aware of how important the existence of Israel is for the survival of us all. And because I am proud of being Jewish, I am worried by the growing anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the world.”

World Important Existence Growing Proud Survival Jew Israel Worried Anti Semitism Zionism

Author:Steven Spielberg

“In the re-creation of combat situations, and this is coming from a director who's never been in one, being mindful of what these veterans have actually gone through, you find that the biggest concern is that you don't look at war as a geopolitical endeavor.”

Looks War Situation Gone Creation Directors Concern Endeavor Combat Veteran Geopolitical

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I committed to directing 'Catch Me If You Can' not because of the divorce component, but principally because Frank Abagnale did things that were the most astonishing scams I had ever heard.”

Ifs Heard Committed Divorce Frank Can Not Components Astonishing Scams Catch Me

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I get that same queasy, nervous, thrilling feeling every time I go to work. That's never worn off since I was 12 years-old with my dad's 8-millimeter movie camera.”

Years Feelings Actors Dad Cameras My Dad Nervous Movie Worn Thrilling

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I think one of the worst things that happened to me was, you know, my voluntary fallout with my father. And then the greatest thing that happened to me was when I saw the light, and realized I needed to love him in a way that he could love me back.”

Thinking Knows Way Light Father Saws Happened Worst Needed Worst Things Fallouts

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I'm always in favor of Israel responding strongly when it's threatened. At the same time, a response to a response doesn't really solve anything. It just creates a perpetual-motion machine.”

Machines Response Israel Solve Favors Perpetual Threatened Responding Perpetual Motion

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Remember, science fiction's always been the kind of first level alert to think about things to come. It's easier for an audience to take warnings from sci-fi without feeling that we're preaching to them. Every science fiction movie I have ever seen, any one that's worth its weight in celluloid, warns us about things that ultimately come true.”

Thinking Firsts Kind Feelings Remember Levels Fiction Audience Easier Weight Science Fiction Warning Sci Fi Preaching Celluloid Science Fiction Movie

Author:Steven Spielberg

“The baby boomers owe a big debt of gratitude to the parents and grandparents - who we haven't given enough credit to anyway - for giving us another generation.”

Giving Enough Bigs Given Parent Generations Havens Baby Gratitude Credit Debt Grandparent Parents And Grandparents Boomers Baby Boomer Debt Of Gratitude

Author:Steven Spielberg

“All presidents swear an oath to the Constitution to keep this country united, and when the country fell apart, Lincoln had to put it back together again, with a lot of help. But he bore total responsibility.”

Country Helping Together President United Responsibility Constitution Bores Swear Oath Back Together Together Again Back Together Again

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Audience members are only concerned about the story, the concept, the bells and whistles and the noise that a popular film starts to make even before it's popular. So audiences will not be drawn to the technology; they'll be drawn to the story. And I hope it always remains that way.”

Way Stories Film Technology Audience Members Concepts Concerned Remains Noise Bells Popular Film

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Because of how much movies cost, it's dangerous to be experimental on one film after the other. But we can experiment with television. We can do things that are fringe and bring ideas to the table that are offbeat and original.”

Ideas Film Can Do Dangerous Television Cost Originals Tables Experiments Fringe Offbeat

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Because television doesn't offer the kind of budget that a movie offers, you've got to be a little more careful where you spend the money to put the fiction in science.”

Kind Littles Fiction Television Offers Careful Budgets

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Before statehood was achieved, Syria and Egypt had their tanks and military equipment lined up to invade Tel Aviv and destroy it; but the Israelis scrambled together an air force, some of it from old Second World War Messerschmidts, and the invasion was halted.”

World War Together Force Air Military War Of The Worlds Syria Egypt Equipment Invasion Tanks Second World War Air Force Military Equipment

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Even if I'd had a really happy relationship with my father and there was no emotional hiatus for a decade and a half, I probably would still have made some of the same choices for movies that I've made.”

Ifs Made Stills Choices Father Half Emotional Decades Really Happy Happy Relationship Hiatus

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I always think if it's a good story, the audience can't wait to run out of the theater and go tweet somebody with the gist of a story, in a nutshell, almost, because it was that interesting.”

Ifs Thinking Stories Running Waiting Interesting Audience Theater Tweet Good Story Gist

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I believe in 3D for certain kinds of films. I certainly believe in using 3D for all things in animation because animation has such clarity and so much depth of focus. It worked great with 'Avatar' because 70 percent of that film is animated.”

Believe Kind Film Certain I Believe Focus Percent All Things Depth I Believe In Clarity Animation Animated

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I don't think that anybody in any war thinks of themselves as a hero. The minute anybody presumes that they are heroes, they get their boots taken away from them and buried in the sand.”

Thinking War Taken Minutes Hero Sand Buried Boots

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I even get inspired by movies that aren't very good, because there's always something good in movies that are collectively thought of as a failure. There's good in everything, I find.”

Inspired Very Good

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I go out and look for a good story to tell and if I like it enough and I decide to direct it, I become dangerously involved in becoming a part of that story.”

Ifs Looks Enough Stories Becoming Involved Direct Good Story

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I guess my first digital movie was 'Tintin' because 'Tintin' has no film step. There is no intermediate film step. It's 100% digital animation, but as far as a live-action film, I'm still planning to shoot everything on film.”

Firsts Stills Action Film Steps Planning Digital Animation Action Films

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I have never before, in my long and eclectic career, been gifted with such an abundance of natural beauty as I experienced filming 'War Horse' on Dartmoor.”

Long War Natural Careers Horse Abundance Gifted Eclectic Eclectic Style War Horse

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I interviewed survivors, I went to Poland, saw the cities and spent time with the people and spoke to the Jews who had come back to Poland after the war and talked about why they had come back.”

People War Cities Saws Jew Spokes Survivor Poland

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I love creating partnerships; I love not having to bear the entire burden of the creative storytelling, and when I have unions like with George Lucas and Peter Jackson, it's really great; not only do I benefit, but the project is better for it.”

Creative Bears Benefits Projects Creating Unions Burden Storytelling Peter Partnership Really Great

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I love to go to a regular movie theater, especially when the movie is a big crowd-pleaser. It's much better watching a movie with 500 people making noise than with just a dozen.”

People Bigs Theater Crowds Noise Dozen Movie Theater Pleasers Crowd Pleasers

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I once said that CGI makes you less inventive. At the time I was bemoaning the loss of the practical stunt. If a stunt can be done practically and safely, I'd rather do it old-style.”

Ifs Said Done Loss Style Practicals Cgi

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I think every movie I've made after 'Indiana Jones,' I've tried to make every single movie as if it was made by a different director, because I'm very conscious of not wanting to impose a consistent style on subject matter that is not necessarily suited to that style. So I try to re-invent my own eye every time I tackle a new subject.”

Ifs Thinking Trying Made Different Matter Eye My Own Subjects Style Directors Conscious Consistent Subject Matter Indiana

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I think producers are more interested in backing concepts than directors and writers. I don't think that's the right way of making a decision about whether you're going to back a film or not.”

Thinking Way Film Decision Directors Concepts Producers Right Way

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I think that a movie can only be an adjunct or only a supplement to books, to different points of view, to scholars, historians and your own teachers.”

Thinking Book Different Views Teacher Point Of View Historian Scholar Supplements Different Points Of View

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I think the key divide between the interactive media and the narrative media is the difficulty in opening up an empathic pathway between the gamer and the character, as differentiated from the audience and the characters in a movie or a television show.”

Thinking Character Shows Audience Media Television Keys Difficulty Opening Narrative Divides Pathways Television Shows Gamer Opening Up Interactive

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I think we need to take responsibility for the things we put on this planet, and also take responsibility for the things we take off the planet. We need to have limiters on how far we allow ourselves to go - ethical, moral limiters.”

Thinking Needs Responsibility Moral Planets Ethical Taking Responsibility

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I turned down 'Harry Potter' and 'Spider-Man,' two movies that I knew would be phenomenally successful, because I had already made movies like that before and they offered no challenge to me. I don't need my ego to be reminded.”

Men Needs Made Two Would Be Challenges Successful Ego Harry Potter Spiders Potters Turned Down Spider Man

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I usually do about five cuts as a director. I haven't ever directed a film where I haven't made five passes through the movie, and that takes a long time.”

Long Made Film Five Cutting Havens Directors Long Time

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I was a scared kid... I think I was born a nervous wreck, and I think movies were one way to find a way transferring my own private horrors to everyone else's lives. It was less of an escape and more of an exorcism.”

Thinking Way Kids Born My Own Horror Scared Nervous One Way Wrecks Exorcism

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I would love to do a musical. I would love that. I would have to find the right book, the right story, but some day I'm going to make one. I would really like to go off and direct a musical. That's what I would really like to do when I grow up.”

Book Stories Grows Growing Up Direct Musical

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I'm very used to working with first time actors - you can just look back at 'E.T.' with Drew Barrymore, and Christian Bale from 'Empire of the Sun,' who'd never made a movie before.”

Firsts Looks Made Christian Used Actors Sun First Time Empires Empire Of The Sun

Author:Steven Spielberg

“I've always wanted to tell a story about Lincoln. I saw a paternal father figure; I saw someone who was completely, stubbornly committed to his ideals, to his vision.”

Stories Wanted Father Vision Saws Figures Ideals Committed Father Figure

Author:Steven Spielberg

“If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government.”

Ifs Believe Facts Government I Believe Support Information Policy Weapons Mass Destruction Saddam Hussein Weapons Of Mass Destruction Mass Destruction

Author:Steven Spielberg

“In '83, not only was there no such thing as performance motion capture technology, there was no such thing as digital animation. This was the analog era.”

Technology Performances Eras Digital Capture Animation Analog

Author:Steven Spielberg

“It is not my job to compare my movies. I don't like to compare my films with other movies because I don't really have that perspective. It is an intellectual exercise, but it doesn't intuitively come to me.”

Jobs Film Perspective Exercise Intellectual Compare

Author:Steven Spielberg

“My dad took me out to see a meteor shower when I was a little kid, and it was scary for me because he woke me up in the middle of the night. My heart was beating; I didn't know what he wanted to do. He wouldn't tell me, and he put me in the car and we went off, and I saw all these people lying on blankets, looking up at the sky.”

People Knows Heart Littles Kids Wanted Lying Night Saws Sky Middle Car Dad My Heart My Dad Scary Showers Little Kid Blanket Middle Of The Night Meteors People Lie

Author:Steven Spielberg

“My filmmaking really began with technology. It began through technology, not through telling stories, because my 8mm movie camera was the way into whatever I decided to do.”

Way Stories Technology Decided Cameras Filmmaking Telling Stories

Author:Steven Spielberg

“My first reaction every time I delve into an episode of history that I don't know very much about is... my first reaction is anger that my teachers never taught me about it.”

Knows Firsts Teacher Taught Reactions Episodes

Author:Steven Spielberg

“My problem is that my imagination won't turn off. I wake up so excited I can't eat breakfast. I've never run out of energy. It's not like OPEC oil; I don't worry about a premium going on my energy. It's just always been there. I got it from my mom.”

I Can Problem Running Turns Energy Imagination Worry Mom Wake Up Excited My Mom Oil Breakfast My Imagination Turn Off Premium Opec

Author:Steven Spielberg

“Naturally, it is a terrible, despicable crime when, as in Munich, people are taken hostage, people are killed. But probing the motives of those responsible and showing that they are also individuals with families and have their own story does not excuse what they did.”

People Doe Stories Individual Taken Crime Terrible Responsible Excuse Motive Hostage Despicable Munich Probing

Author:Steven Spielberg

“People often tell me how much they love the digital skies that we obviously painted for 'War Horse.' Well, there's not a single sky that we put in through special effects. The skies you see in the movie are the skies that we experienced - but it was definitely challenging at times.”

People Wells War Challenges Sky Special Effects Horse Digital Special Effects War Horse

Author:Steven Spielberg

About the Author

Born: December 18, 1946
Known for: Film director
Quotes: 308

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Books & Sources

Steven Spielberg: InterviewsRelated source material

Close encounters of the third kind: a novelRelated source material

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