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" We are born with freedom and hope, but often that's dashed because of our color. But in school, I'd already been taught that no one could tell me that you can't do something because you're black. "

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Hope

Freedom

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" 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. "

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" Never made a million dollars from any of my 78 movies. People thought I had this fortune, which I never had. "

" George Clooney and Brad Pitt, with those 'Oceans' films they do, they get to work together, make a whole lot of money, and make a major film statement. Imagine if once a year, myself, Denzel Washington, Laurence Fishburne, James Earl Jones, we did some relevant film together to make a statement. "

" 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. "

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

" 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. "

" Working on the ABC movie 'Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige,'' which we filmed in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was a special pleasure, particularly because I'd played baseball in high school. "

" 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. "

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

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Presumptuous

Think

" 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. "

" When I'm offered a role, I look at what I think I can do with it. I look to see if I can project myself into it. "

" 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.' "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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.' "

" 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 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. "

" 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. "

" We need to do whatever it takes to get our children together and pay attention to them, because that's our future. What's in the hearts and minds of our children is what's in our future. "

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

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

" '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. "

" I believe the gift of acting is a gift from God, my oath to God, and I want to make sure on a daily basis that it is honed and deeply spiritual... I want to believe that the audience believes that my acting comes from this special place. "

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

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