Angelina Jolie is the proud mother to six beautiful children [1] — Maddox, 16, Pax, 13, Zahara, 12, Shiloh, 11, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 9 — whom she shares with Brad Pitt [2]. While Angelina is usually pretty private when it comes to her family, the actress has been opening up more and more about her kids now that they're getting older [3]. Maddox even gave his first-ever interview [4] to People in September and couldn't help but gush about his mom when explaining what it was like working with her on First They Killed My Father [5]. "I was trying to help wherever I could," Maddox said. "[She's] fun, funny, and easy to work with. She's a wonder." Keep reading for a look at some of the sweetest things Angelina has said about her family.
- On what makes her truly happy [7]: "The sound of Zahara's laugh. She is one of those people who laughs with her whole body. Completely open and full of joy."
- On her children being her best friends [8]: "They really help me so much. We're really such a unit. They're the best friends I've ever had. Nobody in my life has ever stood by me more."
- On what she loves most about parenting [9]: "I tell my kids stories every night and I am always doing different voices. There's nothing that gives me more pleasure than entertaining my children."
- On being proud of her kids [10]: "They're six very strong-minded, thoughtful, worldly individuals. I'm very proud of them."
- On keeping her family together [11] after split from Brad: "We are a family and we will always be a family, and we will get through this time and hopefully be a stronger family for it. Many, many people find themselves in this situation. My whole, my family . . . we've all being through a difficult time. My focus is my children, our children . . . and my focus is finding this way through. We are and forever will be a family. I am coping with finding a way through to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer."
- On remaining strong for her children [12]: "I want to make sure my kids are never worried about me. Even if I'm going through something, I make sure they are very aware that I'm totally fine. I'll stop and make a joke; I talk to them. I never, ever want them to have that secret worry and feel that they have to take care of me."
- On how her kids showed her what true love is [13]: "I have never been romantic about it. I never believed in it, I think, until I had children. The moment I looked into Maddox's eyes in the orphanage, my entire world changed. And that was the first time I had experienced it."
- On where she sees her family in five years: "In five years' time, I would like to be traveling around the world visiting my children, hoping that they're just happy and doing really interesting things, and I imagine in many different parts of the world, and I'll be supporting them. Everything I do, my hope is that I represent something, and I represent the right things to my children and give them the right sense of what they're capable of and the world as it should be seen. Not through the prism of Hollywood or through a certain kind of life, but really take them into the world, where they have a really good sense and become rounded people."