Brad Pitt Quotes About Angelina Jolie That Will Make You Wistful In Light Of Their Divorce

After a 12 year relationship, beset with rumors from its very inception, TMZ has reported that Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt. In the filing, Jolie cited irreconcilable differences and will seek physical custody of their six children. While rumors of a Jolie/Pitt divorce have been flying since they were married in 2014, many fans have been invested in their high-profile partnership since they first came out as a couple ten years ago (and, let's be honest, way before that). For those fans hurting from this news, these Brad Pitt quotes about Angelina Jolie can perhaps enable us all to relive the glory days of the glitzy union between these two absurdly talented, impossibly beautiful people. At the very least, it'll give us a good cry to read them with the knowledge we have now, and that will help us feel our feelings.

Romper reached out to both Pitt's and Jolie's representatives and attorneys for comment, but have received no response at the time this article was published.

The story of Pitt and Jolie fell in love on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2004, when Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston (and thus sparking more than a decade of tabloid love triangle rumors that kept us collectively entertained at grocery store check outs and airports) is practically taken as gospel, but the two did not officially come out as a couple until early 2006, when Jolie revealed she was pregnant with the couples' child. In a 2005 interview with Diane Sawyer, promoting the film, Pitt spoke kindly but notably cagily of Jolie.

I have a great respect for her. She's a good egg, a great actress, and I really admire what she's doing with her U.N. work.

Seriously: this is how your sweet but emotionally reserved dad talks about you with his bowling buddies.

But, after several children together, the whole "we're just friends" angle doesn't really work anymore. Though media and fans alike were abuzz with questions as to when the couple would tie the knot, in a 2006 Esquire interview, Pitt famously said

Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able.

He repeated this stance several times over the next few years, but in 2012 interview with The Hollywood Report, the actor admitted

We made this declaration some time ago that we weren’t going to do it till everyone can. But I don’t think we’ll be able to hold out. ... We’d actually like to, and it seems to mean more and more to our kids...they ask a lot. And it means something to me, too, to make that kind of commitment.

In April of that year, Pitt and Jolie became engaged, though they emphasized to the press that getting married immediately was nowhere on their radar. Rather, Pitt seemed more content to enjoy family life with his fiancee, as in this Daily Mail interview from 2102.

Right now, Mama (Jolie) is working but the day always starts with breakfast, all of us together. It’s chaos and a joy. When they are young like this, it’s special, and I’m very aware they’ll be grown up before we know it. I see it already and I’m clinging on with my nails. ... One of the best things I’ve done is ensure my kids have a good mother. Of course I want her approval. Angie is a force, she cares deeply. I want her to be proud of her man.

Are... are you getting emotional? I'm totally not you, guys, I'm just asking about you.

In 2013, Angelina Jolie famously underwent multiple surgeries, including a double mastectomy and complete hysterectomy, as preventive measures against cancer, which she chronicled in a touching New York Times op-ed. In a 2015 interview with Tom Brokaw, Pitt spoke about how he saw his role in Jolie's medical choices.

Support. Whatever's got to be done to keep the family together and keep the family together as long as possible has got to be done. ... There was no vanity in my wife's approach. ... This is our life: we're going to make the best of it. There's a strength to that.

Speaking in 2015 regarding their first joint movie in 10 years, By The Sea, which was written and directed by Jolie, Pitt spoke highly of his wife's abilities as an artist, and of blurring the lines between work and marriage in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

[As a director] I trust Angie with my life. I love her instincts. She's ferocious with a story and she's really decisive at her post – in command. She's my wife. There's no dividing line when the camera's rolling or when it's not. We're having the same conversation when we're making breakfast, when we're setting the shot, when we're in the scene or out of the scene.

In the same interview, Pitt described his relationship with his wife, and the family they built together, with what we can perhaps now see as in melancholy, but oddly uplifting hindsight.

Certainly the attrition rate of Hollywood couples looms large. I'm surprised how much our history -- Angie's and mine -- means to me. That we have this story together. That we know each other. That we watch each other getting older, through amazing moments, joys, pains. ... I was a pretty good actor before, but definitely hit and miss. I think I became a really good actor. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with age and wisdom too. But I see an absolute shift from the day I started my family.

Best of luck to everyone involved in this split. We'll be over here, sobbing into 12 years of tabloids.