Dee Rees Quotes

I think all of the secrets of the universe are revealed in history. We understand who we are by understanding where we've been and why we are the way we are, and where we come from.

A society that does not correctly interpret and appreciate its past cannot understand its present fortunes and adversities and can be caught unawares in a fast changing world.

I think my attitudes about the past are very traditional. You can't ignore history; you can't escape it even if you want to. You might as well know where you come from, and you might as well know that everything has been done in some shape or form.

The only way we'll know where we're going is to look at the past and to remember who we were through ceremonies and rituals.

There's power in turning to the past to illuminate the current state of things.

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

With each passing decade, history becomes less real for us, less immediate and essential to our way of life, and so, like 'green' nature, more of a commodity or an advertising gimmick.

It's very strange that most people don't care if their knowledge of their family history only goes back three generations.

History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.

You can only judge anything that happened in the times, in the times that that happened.

I really feel sorry for kids who aren't interested in history - recent history, either, because it is this that made us what we are.

Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.

… history does not belong to us but rather we to it

One should live with history round one.

I was always pretty interested in my history. Not just the history of the Caribbean, the history of my people, but all walks of life.

The most important thing in life is to know where you come from, and I know where I come from.

History is very much bound up in family experience.

…everything has a past. Everything – a person, an object, a word, everything. If you don’t know the past, you can’t understand the present and plan properly for the future.

You've got to remember where you come from.

It's good to know where you've come from.

I never, by any regard, ever denied any part of my family roots.

For me, understanding your heritage and wanting to leave a legacy was always important to me.

Sometimes it can be easy to forget where your roots are or where you came from.

I am of Irish, Italian, and French Canadian descent.

One of the biggest things that I took from playing Kunta Kinte was where his strength came from in knowing where he was from.