Twelve years after Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt saw sparks fly on the set of 2005's Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and two years after they finally tied the knot, they are no longer, as TMZ reported this morning (September 20). Now, in light of their pending divorce, the sweet messages they've publicly exchanged over the years collectively look like a box of so many love letters burned.

Jolie shocked fans of the A-list couple by filing for full physical custody of the couple's six children, TMZ added, intimating that Pitt's "methods" of parenting were the catalyst to the breakup. Over the years, Pitt and Jolie have publicly gushed over each other with words worthy of wartime correspondence. Between interviews about Jolie's health concerns (she underwent a preventative double mastectomy in February 2013 and an oophorectomy in March 2015) and Pitt's praise of his wife's mothering, neither has missed an opportunity to build the other up.

Sadly, what has gone up has now come down. Below are quotes delivered by Pitt about Jolie, and by Jolie about Pitt. Once as heartening as Christmas to The Grinch, they'll now only remind us of what was...

Ken Ishii, Getty Images
Ken Ishii, Getty Images
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"It’s not just that I love being in Brad’s company, which obviously I do, but it’s that we both roll up our sleeves and take on what we care about in the same way. I have a lot of respect for him, and he helps me to be better and fight hard for things that I love." - Jolie to WNovember 2008.

Jonathan Leibson, Getty Images
Jonathan Leibson, Getty Images
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"I get up some mornings and gasp." - Pitt to E!December 2008.

Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images
Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images
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"The children certainly tie us together, but a relationship won't hold if it's only about the kids. You also must be really interested in each other and have a really, really wonderful, exciting time together. We do. Brad and I love being together. We enjoy it." - Jolie to Parade, July 2010.

Robin Marchant, Getty Images
Robin Marchant, Getty Images
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"I am very lucky with Brad. He is a real gentleman, but he is also a real man's man. He's got the wonderful balance of being an extraordinary, great, loving father, a very, very intelligent man and physically he's a real man." - Jolie to The TelegraphMay 2011.

Jason Merritt, Getty Images
Jason Merritt, Getty Images
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"One of the greatest, smartest things I ever did was give my kids Angie as their mom. She's such a great mom. Oh, man, I'm so happy to have her. With a partner like Angie, I know that when I'm working, the kids are happy, safe, and prospering. And when Angie's working, she knows she has the same."
- Pitt to Parade, September 2011.

Eamonn M. McCormack, Getty Images
Eamonn M. McCormack, Getty Images
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"Brad has expanded my life in ways I never imagined. We built a family. He is not just the love of my life, he is my family. I hold that very dear. I suppose what I've learned from Brad is to be able to have the kind of family whose happiness and well-being comes before your own." - Jolie to Marie Claire, January 2012.

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images
Frazer Harrison, Getty Images
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"I have a handful of close friends and I have my family and I haven't known life to be any happier. I'm making things. I just haven't known life to be any happier."
- Pitt to Esquire, May 2013.

Ben Gabbe, Getty Images
Ben Gabbe, Getty Images
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"It's such a beautiful and sexy quality in a man when he takes his responsibilities as a father very seriously. I still get very emotional when I watch Brad play with the children — he is so naturally devoted and joyful around them."
- Jolie to Showbiz Spy, April 2014

Anthony Harvey, Getty Images
Anthony Harvey, Getty Images
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"We've gotten a lot closer, which I think naturally happens with raising a family together. You have history. You have so many memories. All your memories are based on time together, so you don't have separate experiences. You have this person you live with who really knows you, and you know them so well. You're not lovers or boyfriend and girlfriend as much as you are a family."
- Jolie to People, May 2014

Jason Merritt, Getty Images
Jason Merritt, Getty Images
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"After all these years, we have history — and when you have history with somebody, you're friends in such a very real, deep way that there's such a comfort, and an ease, and a deep love that comes from having been through quite a lot together" - Jolie to Elle, May 2014

Chris Jackson, Getty Images
Chris Jackson, Getty Images
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"It's surprising how much I enjoy the direction of my wife. She's decisive, incredibly intuitive, and might I say sexy at her post. I trust her with my life."
- Pitt to VOctober 2015.

"I knew through the surgeries that he was on my side and that this wasn’t something where I was gonna feel less of a woman because my husband wasn’t gonna let that happen. To face these issues together and speak about them and talk about what it is to be human, I think can be a beautiful thing."
- Jolie to TodayNovember 2015.

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