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10 quotes about fatherhood from famous dadsPhoto credit: Instagram/ John Legend, Jimmy Fallon & Getty Images Wise words from a handful of famous papas.
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Yes, we may roll our eyes at their jokes, make fun of their sensible (but surprisingly popular) sneakers and tease them about always falling asleep on the couch, but at the end of the day, a great father is worth celebrating. Father’s Day weekend is here and in honour of the amazing dads, stepdads, grandfathers and other important father figures whom we’ll be virtually celebrating, we’re highlighting 10 sweet, funny and heartfelt quotes on fatherhood from some famous papas.

1. Ryan Gosling

Dreamy dad alert! The Canadian actor and his longtime partner, Eva Mendes, share two young daughters named Esmeralda, 5, and Amada, 3, and though they are fiercely protective of their privacy, Gosling has offered his take on what fatherhood means, telling GQ in 2016: “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.” Talking about how much he loves being a parent, he told People, “It sounds so clichéd, but I never knew that life could be this fun and this great.”

2. Idris Elba

British heartthrob Idris Elba is dad to an adorable six-year-old son named Winston, whom he had with ex-girlfriend Naiyana Garth, and an adult daughter named Isan whom he shares with ex-wife Hanne “Kim” Nørgaard, and you may recall was named 2019’s Golden Globe Ambassador. On raising his daughter to be confident, he told Essence, “My daughter and I speak about having the confidence to believe in your own journey and not to follow others. We speak about that a lot—confidence and belief, and not following anyone else’s shine, but rather following your own shine…It’s really important to have that self-belief and that self-heartbeat.”

RELATED: Idris Elba and wife Sabrina Dhowre give Canada a major shout-out

3. John Legend

Chrissy Teigen’s husband wants to create a better world for their kids, Luna and Miles, and he knows it starts at home. “A lot of what we do, we think about our kids and the future we want for them,” Legend explained to Huffington Post. “A lot of it is also about character and interpersonal behaviour toward each other at home, and we want to model that in the way we talk to each other and in the way we talk to them. We want them to be smart, we want them to be kind, we want them to be good leaders, and we want them to be empathetic. And hopefully we’re able to model that at home with them.”

4. Will Smith

Will Smith became a father to son Trey when he was just 24 years old. A few years later, he and second wife Jada Pinkett Smith added son Jaden and daughter Willow to the mix. Their parenting philosophy? Individuality reigns supreme. “I feel that the greatest gift that I can give my children is the freedom to be who they are,” Will told BET back in 2016. “Jada and I are very serious about finding what they are, and encouraging them to be what they are because you can never be happy being what you’re not. As a parent, if it’s an oak tree, I want it to grow as an oak tree. I’m not going to try to force it to be an apple tree.”

5. Mahershala Ali

The Oscar-winning Moonlight actor and his wife, Amatus Sami-Karim, welcomed daughter Bari Najma in 2017. “I think it changes your relationship with time,” he told People about fatherhood in 2017. “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. If anything, I want to work in a more focused way and discover the right balance for my life.”

RELATED: Ramy Youssef reveals how he sweet-talked Mahershala Ali to star on his Golden Globe-winning show

6. Ryan Reynolds

One of Canada’s favourite named Ryans, Reynolds has three daughters with wife Blake Lively and becoming a dad has been nothing short of life-changing. “It’s made me super-present in a way I wasn’t before,” he explained to Fatherly last year. “”I try to hold on to each moment with them. It’s drawn me to the present moment as opposed to the future and past. You see how fast it goes. I really want to enjoy as many moments with them as humanly possible. I want to be around them as much as possible and do as many things with them as possible.”

7. Hasan Minhaj

Quarantine turned into paternity leave for Minhaj, who recently welcomed his second child with wife Beena and he’s loving it. “Mornings are not about when I want to get up, it’s when my daughter wants to get up,” he shared with USA Today. “She’s 2 and she’s the alarm clock for the house because I can hear her on the baby monitor. She’s talking to imaginary animals; I hear things like, “Alligator, stay!” That’s when the day’s begun.”

8. Jimmy Fallon

The late night funnyman and wife Nancy Juvonen have two young daughters, Winnie and Frances, both of whom have become popular fixtures on The Tonight Show: At Home Edition.  “Having a kid is the meaning of life,” Fallon shared in the aptly-titled Bryce Dallas Howard documentary, Dads. “It gives you a job, it gives you a purpose. This is my purpose now. As soon as Winnie was born, I lost my name. I’m not Jimmy Fallon anymore; I’m Winnie’s dad.”

9. Ricky Martin

Grab the tissues! Martin has shared that he dreamed of fatherhood before welcoming sons Matteo, Valentino, Renn and Lucia by surrogate. In a heartfelt open letter, he wrote, “For years, the one thing always clear in my heart was that I wanted to be a father. I dreamed of it often and found great strength and inspiration from the possibility. When this dream became a reality, you can’t imagine the joy and emotions that filled me.”

10. Ken Jeong

Dr. Ken loves being a dad, and, he adores his wife. The hilarious father of daughters Alex and Zooey once wrote a moving open letter where he lovingly shared, “Putting you both to bed is my favourite part of the day. I love reading to you. Pure joy. There is nothing I’ll ever do that will equal being your father. On Father’s Day, no need for presents. I already have my gifts: both of you and Mom. Every day is Father’s Day.

BEFORE YOU GO: Bryce Dallas Howard teams up with her father in her directional feature film debut