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There is more to the art of storytelling and filmmaking than meets the eye. It’s not just a creative process. It is a call you make when you listen to your intuition over your conscience.
Yes, there is a difference between the two, and the accomplished Hollywood director, beloved director, and the man who directed “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park,” “Indiana Jones,” “ET,” and more, has highlighted what separates intuition from conscience. “I want to make it clear that your intuition is different from your conscience,” he said. “They work side by side, but here’s the difference: your conscience screams, ‘This is what you should do,’ while your intuition whispers, ‘This is what you can do.’”
Quote of the day by Steven Spielberg
“I want to make it clear that your intuition is different from your conscience. They work side by side, but this is the difference: your conscience screams: ‘This is what you must do,’ while your intuition whispers: ‘This is what you can do.’”Disclosure Day director Steven Spielberg shared these words of wisdom while speaking to the Harvard Alumni Association and members of the Class of 2016 during his commencement address.
He highlighted that listening to your inner voice, and trusting your intuition, is the most important thing you can do.
What exactly did Steven Spielberg say?
While encouraging young minds, he shared an anecdote from his own life and said, “Parents and professors fill our heads with wisdom and information, and then employers and mentors step in and explain how the world really works. These voices of authority usually make sense, but sometimes, doubt starts to creep into our heads and hearts.” “And even when we think, ‘This isn’t quite the way I see the world,’ it’s kind of easier to just nod along and move on, and for a while, let that define who I am. Because I was suppressing my own perspective, because, like in Nelson’s song, everyone was talking in my face, so I couldn’t hear the echoes in my mind,” he added. Recounting how things changed for him, and what decision made the difference, he said: “At first, the inner voice I needed to listen to was barely audible, barely noticeable – like what happened to me in high school.
But then I started paying more attention, and my intuition started working.Then he explained, “And I want to point out that your intuition is different from your conscience. They work side by side, but here’s the difference: your conscience screams, ‘This is what you should do,’ while your intuition whispers, ‘This is what you can do.'” Listen to this voice telling you what you can do. Nothing will define you more than that.This helped Stephen become the director he is today. He admitted, saying: “Because as soon as I resorted to my intuition and was in harmony with it, certain projects began to attract me to them, and others turned away from them.”
The meaning behind Steven Spielberg’s quote
When Stephen said, “I want to make it clear that your intuition is different from your conscience,” it was self-explanatory. Our consciousness is governed by our mind. He puts everything on a moral and emotional compass and judges what is right and what is wrong.
On the one hand, it is very important to know what your conscience is telling you; On the other hand, it is necessary to hear what your inner voice is telling you.“They work in tandem,” he explained, meaning they work in coordination, one after the other, “but here lies the distinction: your conscience screams, ‘This is what you should do,’ while your intuition whispers, ‘This is what you can do.’” Your intuition frees you; it gives you the wings to act on your potential and sometimes allows you to exceed it.
This is what ultimately defines your personality.
About Steven Spielberg
Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg is one of the most influential figures in Hollywood. According to IMDb, he has won 220 titles across different awards and genres, and so far has 358 prestigious nominations to his name. Upon arrival, his first major directorial effort was the 1974 release The Sugarland Express. It has given him the status of a rising star in the industry.
Believe it or not, that was just the beginning, because what happened next made him an international star among directors.
We’re talking about one of his most popular and beloved films, the shark attack classic, “Jaws.” He then explores the unexplored land of UFO stories and, in 1977, comes up with the book Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Even his next release is also about extraterrestrial life, titled “Disclosure Day.” The film stars Emily Blunt and is scheduled to be released on June 12, 2026.