In his soon-to-be released memoir, Time of My Life, Patrick Swayze details his love of acting, his legacy and the “anger, bitterness and despair” he felt during his fight to survive.

The late actor wrote:

On his diagnosis:
“When my doctors at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles said the words ‘pancreatic cancer,’ a single thought popped into my head: I’m a dead man. Now, a lot of things go through your head when you get a death sentence handed to you, starting with: ‘Why me?’ It’s hard not to sink into bitterness … For me, that initial shock quickly turned into self-criticism and blame.”

On his struggle:
“I was not ready to go, and I’d be damned if this disease was going to take me before I was good and ready. So I said to my doctor, ‘Show me where the enemy is and I’ll fight him.’” It was “the most challenging, eye-opening battle I’ve ever had.”

On his famous pottery foray in Ghost:
“We really made up the scene as we went along. It was pretty sexy playing in all that clay, so all we had to do was go with it … She was very warm, much warmer than she’d been in the other scenes we’d been in together.”

On what he’d leave behind:
“Whenever someone asks me what my legacy is, I say the same thing. I’m not finished yet.”

So sad.

So brave.

[Image via WENN.]