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" I was down in Wilmington, Delaware, doing 'The Desk Set' with Shirley Booth. I was at the DuPont Hotel. I walked out, and there was this grill next door called the New England Grill. I loved seafood. They said very nicely, 'We don't serve colored people.' "

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" I didn't know anything about acting, I didn't know anything about theater, but I was just an exceptional student at high school. I wanted to play ball; I'm going after a basketball scholarship and be a doctor. I got injured and my marks began to drop. "

Louis Gossett, Jr.

High School

Basketball

Doctor

" The two lines from 'Roots' that stick out to me are, 'You no more in Africa. You in America now,' and what I said after Kunta escaped: 'What is it like to be free, Kunta? It must be something.' "

" I was invited to play with the New York Knicks. I was never drafted, but I was invited to the rookie camp. "

" One of my best friends while shooting 'Roots' was Vic Morrow, the guy that whips Kunta. "

" If a role isn't different, it's not worth doing. "

" I'm cancer-free. And I'm on antioxidants and acupuncture and a different diet. And I have a different outlook on life. I don't have resentment any more. It's wonderful. "

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Resentment

Wonderful

" You never know when what you do in the arts means something to people, and you never really know if you've been received well. "

" The Lord may not come when you want Him, but he's always going to be there on time. "

" I was always told that I'd have to do a movie with a white guy in order to get the money. That's the way it was. That made me feel that I should have chosen some other profession, so I could have gotten my just deserts. "

" There are beautiful words in the Bible and in our pledges and the Declaration of Independence. "

" The only time I was really free was when the director said 'Action' in front of a camera or on the stage, and that's when I flew. "

" After the Academy Award, well, I was left with a lot of time on my hands. I thought I'd get a lot of offers - and they didn't come. "

" The worst resentment that anybody can have is one you feel justified to keep. "

" You have a bout with death, things that touch your mortality, when that happens, all that bling-bling gets thrown away because all you've got is you and God. "

" I grew up with all my cousins. The men worked, and the older women raised us - my mother, my aunt, my grandmother. My great-grandmother was the matriarch, and sometimes there were 30 of us. "

" I think more important than law is the hearts of people. "

" I was president of the schools in junior high and high school, got a scholarship to New York University, played a little basketball, and was a celebrity. "

" I was at Woodstock. In the mud. "

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Mud

Woodstock

" There's really nothing like a live audience right there. When you're in a bad show, you can hear the creaks in the chairs. "

" One family, one nation, indivisible. That mentality is essential for our salvation. "

" When '12 Years a Slave' got that much attention, everyone started to copy that. That story has to be told, but there are a lot more stories to be told than slavery. "

" When we look at each other, we're the same family. You don't have to see black or Latino - we're one family. That's America. "

" My father was adopted. He grew up in the Italian household. "

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Italian

Adopted

" I can do more than anyone suspects. I pride myself on my versatility. It took 32 years of difficult parts, second leads, villains and juveniles. The Oscar changed the quality of the roles I was being offered. "

" I think God asks us to promise to replenish the planet and to pay 100% attention to our young so that they will develop character and a good conscience. "

" It's presumptuous for us to think we are the only beings in the cosmos. "

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Presumptuous

Think

" Some Marine units actually use 'An Officer and a Gentleman' in their training programs. "

" 'Avatar' was gorgeous. There are good stories in there, but when used in other movies they're similar to those violent video games. Characters using deadly weapons. The children follow these movies. "

" We started the family Bible after slavery was abolished. My great-grandmother remembered the Bible being started, which meant that she was a slave as a young girl. When she died, the Bible was at least 105 years old, so she must have been nearly 115 years old. Her daughter, my grandmother, died at 97, and her husband at 98. "

" I had an Oscar, an Emmy, and yet I had this big hole in my soul. "