I learn from their strength: Angelina Jolie on her children

New York: Angelina Jolie has said her six children have been the source of strength for her but admitted they have also suffered in her life battles.

The 44-year-old actor shares her children -- daughters Zahara, 14, Shiloh, 13, and Vivienne, 11, and sons Maddox, 18, Pax, 15, and Knox, 11 -- with former husband, actor Brad Pitt.

Jolie said her kids have been her support system for a long time now.

"The part of us that is free, wild, open, curious can get shut down by life. By pain or by harm. My children know my true self, and they have helped me to find it again and to embrace it.

"They have been through a lot. I learn from their strength. As parents, encourage our kids to embrace all that they are, and all that they know in their hearts to be right, and they look back at us and want the same for us," the actor told Harper's Bazaar.

Jolie most recently reprised the eponymous role in "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil". She is currently working on Marvel Studios' "The Eternals".