Quotes from Louis Gossett, Jr.

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

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

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.

My father's best friend, Georgie Terra, was an Italian guy. The children and the cousins and nieces and nephews were children of the Mafia. Those were the children he grew up with. If you want to go to a safe neighborhood, go to where the Mafia is.

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

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.

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.'

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

I am so grateful that the public has given me this gift. They look at me as a person - not as a race or a color. The word for it is freedom - to be accepted as me.

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.

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.