It starts with the writer-it's a familiar dictum, but somehow it keeps getting forgotten along the way. No film-maker, irrespective of his electronic bag of tricks, can ever afford to forget his commitment to the written word.
Steven SpielbergRead
There's no better way to test a person than to put them in the middle of a war. That's clearly going to show what kind of a character you're telling a story about.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True character is revealed in challenging situations, particularly during conflicts.
This quote by Steven Spielberg suggests that a person's true nature and character become evident when they face extreme challenges, such as war. In high-pressure situations, one’s values, ethics, and moral fortitude are tested, providing insight into who they truly are beyond the stories they tell about themselves.
Themes
CharacterWarAdversityChallengesTesting
In practice
Example use cases
During a leadership seminar, when discussing how leaders respond to crises.
More from Steven Spielberg
All quotes →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.
Steven SpielbergRead
I just had a crazy, wild imagination all my life, and science fiction is the greatest outlet for me.
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From a very young age, my parents taught me the most important lesson of my whole life: They taught me how to listen. They taught me how to listen to everybody before I made up my own mind. When you listen, you learn. You absorb like a sponge - and your life becomes so much better than when you are just trying to be listened to all the time.
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I wanted to do another movie that could make us laugh and cry and feel good about the world. I wanted to do something else that could make us smile. This is a time when we need to smile more and Hollywood movies are supposed to do that for people in difficult times.
Steven SpielbergRead
There are so many rumours about so many of us in the public eye. Sometimes it's too hard to deny what is not true.
Steven SpielbergRead
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