On occasion, a man will have a child, and he will think very positively about that child. Sometimes, he will articulate those thoughts, and sometimes, although certainly less often, he will be famous. Here, 15 famous men who said some nice things—or less nice things—about fatherhood.
Tom Hardy
"There was the idea that in order to look after someone else, you must first truly look after yourself... I was healthy and already had a lot of shit behind me—rehab and all that—but I didn't have an anchor. A child is an anchor."
Mahershala Ali
"I think it changes your relationship with time. I just don't have time to waste. You gotta be really deliberate with how you choose to spend your day because those are the moments you're away from your child."
Jim Gaffigan
"Whenever one of my children says, 'Goodnight, Daddy,' I always think to myself, 'You don't mean that.'"
Kanye West
"One of the things was just to be protective, that I would do anything to protect my child or my child's mother. As simple as that."
Ryan Reynolds
"I don't have to prepare to be wrapped around my daughter's finger. I have been wrapped around her little finger since the day she plopped out into this world."
Denzel Washington
"The strongest, toughest men all have compassion. They're not heartless and cold. You have to be man enough to have compassion--to care about people and about your children"
Matt Bomer
"It's the most profound gift and the most daunting challenge."
Dave Grohl
"If my daughter ever comes home with a musician, I'll pull him aside and say, 'I'll get you a record deal if you stop fucking around with my daughter.'"
Chance the Rapper
"I have a daughter who's going to be raised in this world, and my music and my art are powerful tools in getting that to be formed the way I want it to."
Ryan Gosling
"When you meet your kids you realize that they deserve great parents. And then you have your marching orders, and you have to try and become the person that they deserve."
Stephen Colbert
"You can't spell 'parentry' without 'try.' Of course, you'll make a few mistakes. The important thing is that the mistakes you make with your kids are the same ones your parents made with you. At least you know how those turn out."
Barack Obama
"Any fool can have a child. That doesn't make you a father. It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father."
BD Wong
"I feel more and more like 'myself' these days. Before becoming a father, I can remember a low-level feeling of somehow not quite being myself."
Idris Elba
"I watch my daughter wanting to be like other kids and getting upset that she's not. But I always try and instill in her the idea that she's perfect as she is."
Bryan Cranston
"I want to experience being a husband, experience being a father, experience, maybe, hopefully, someday being a grandfather, and all those things. I want that experience. When I die, I want to be exhausted."
Sarah Rense is the Lifestyle Editor at Esquire, where she covers tech, food, drinks, home, and more.
