Actor Matthew McConaughey shared the lessons his three children taught him about life.
In a Sept. 12 interview with the “Today” show, McConaughey, 53, promoted his new children’s book “Just Because.” He opened up about parenting and the wisdom his three kids, Levi, Vida, and Livingston, with wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, have bestowed upon him.
“My eldest (Levi) teaches me consideration daily. He’s extremely considerate,” the “Dallas Buyers Club” actor said.
Speaking about his daughter, he shared she taught him “leniency, forgiveness.”
“She’ll put you in jail, but she’ll give you the key to get out of cell when she puts you in,” he added.
According to McConaughey, his youngest son, Livingston, taught him to “focus on achievement.”
“He gets extremely focused, and when I see that look in his eye, I already know, ‘Today, he’s gonna play great’ or ‘he’s gonna nail this.’ And he does, whoosh,” McConaughey explained.
Additionally, he mentioned his son’s ability to zone in and how “the rest of the world goes into the background.”
Speaking of where his children’s traits came from, he said, “From myself, from my wife, and then a whole bunch of DNA and ancestry that I can’t explain.”
In an interview with GQ in 2014, the Oscar winner spoke about becoming a father and referred to his firstborn son as his “secret weapon.”
“Never is a man more of a man than when he is the father of a newborn. Whatever decisions you make in the first six months of becoming a father, double down on them. I mean, you’re meeting the courier,” he said.
He added, “You’re meeting the shepherd, the future prince. You immediately have something you don’t have to think about.”
Furthermore, he said becoming a father caused him to realize “what’s important.”
“And the clarity of that is like, “’Whew. I definitely got more selfish,’” he added.
However, he said his new role caused him to become “more compassionate, which don’t always go together, you know?”