His greatest accomplishment. Over the years, Brad Pitt has praised the influence that fatherhood has had on him.

The actor first became a dad shortly after he started dating Angelina Jolie. He legally adopted her son Maddox and daughter Zahara one year after the couple sparked romance rumors in 2005.

Pitt and Jolie went on to welcome daughter Shiloh in 2006 and they adopted son Pax from Vietnam in 2007. One year later, the pair welcomed twins, Knox and Vivienne.

“I feel like the richest man alive since I’ve become a father,” the Oscar winner told Psychologies magazine in 2014. “Being a father has changed me on so many levels and made me more generous and alive. I see my children as an essential part of my life. I love being a father and all the responsibilities that entails.”

For the Seven actor, fatherhood quickly transformed into his biggest priority.

“I worry about them all the time,” he admitted. “That’s the emotional bond and responsibility that sweeps over you when you have a family to look after. I care about them more than I care about myself, which I think is the real definition of love. You see past yourself and become more generous and giving, and wanting only the best for your family.”

After more than a decade together, Pitt and Jolie called it quits in 2016. Amid the twosome’s messy custody battle, they were declared legally single in April 2019.

At the time, the Ocean’s Eleven star opened up about how he took inspiration from his personal life to influence his work. “My individual experience is somewhat universal, in the fact that you know our parents, our universe, our gods, our first imprint on on how to behave, react, feel in the world,” Pitt told CNN about his role in Ad Astra being shaped by his kids. “And with that, to different degrees, some of us more than others, carry pain and confusion from that. I think it almost takes a lifetime to understand what was yours, and what was theirs.”

He added: “My dad always said he wanted to give me a better life than he had coming from extreme poverty, and he did it. And it makes me think, as a dad, what do I have to offer that’s better than I had, to my kids?”

Scroll down for Pitt’s candid quotes about being a father: