Philippe Petit Quotes

My journey has always been the balance between chaos and order. ~ Philippe Petit

Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope. ~ Philippe Petit

If you see how carefully I prepare for any kind of walk, legal or illegal, small or big, you will see that, actually, I narrow the unknown to virtually nothing. And that's when I am ready to walk on the wire. ~ Philippe Petit

Most of 'Let the Great World Spin' is centered on the day in 1974 when Philippe Petit walked on a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center, creating an astonishing spectacle that intersects with the lives of many of the novel's multiple protagonists. ~ Susan Barker

When I was learning by myself, despite my parents, despite my teachers, despite society, when I was fighting for building my life as a young wire walker at age 16, I didn't have feelings, I had certainties. ~ Philippe Petit

When art in general, and film in particular, succeeds is when it pulls you away onto a voyage. Then it's a good film. ~ Philippe Petit

Truly, from a very early age, I started distancing myself from other kids, not out of willingness, but just out of the nature of my energy. I liked to do things solely, and I already had a taste of the quest for perfection, which is unusual in a little kid. ~ Philippe Petit

I rendezvous with the long wire and perform the 'torero walk', gliding my feet, holding the pole away from my body, head high. ~ Philippe Petit

This moment where we think we rest, when the brain is floating, you know, in sleep, is actually a moment where I could be very creative in a very strange, uncontrolled way. ~ Philippe Petit

I am the poet of the high wire - I never do stunts; I do theatrical performances. ~ Philippe Petit

Right after my Twin Towers walk, I was approached by hundreds of people, and I said no to all the offers. I could have become a millionaire overnight, obviously, but I said no, and I continue to be uninterested. ~ Philippe Petit

I am a wire-walker. I can walk any time, anywhere - I'm indestructible. ~ Philippe Petit

I've been arrested many times for illegal high wire walking and illegal street performing. ~ Philippe Petit

What I think tailors the creativity of most people are the rules that we learn from the age we are very small - in school, our parents. ~ Philippe Petit

I keep saying I am an auto-didact, but I have a lot of outside influences. One I could cite is juggler Francis Brunn, who was the first man to throw ten rings in the air; he was really an amazing juggler who showed onstage the quest for perfection. ~ Philippe Petit

The impossible - we are told - cannot be achieved. To overcome the 'impossible,' we need to use our wits and be fearless. We need to break the rules and to circumvent - some would one say to cheat. ~ Philippe Petit

I walk on the wire; it's my profession, and there are no two high wire walks alike. ~ Philippe Petit

My parents wanted me to have an honorable profession and not to be a jester. ~ Philippe Petit

It's part of my life to feel like a criminal, to have eyes in my back and see if I'm being followed. It's a feeling that comes from street juggling because I have been arrested so many times. ~ Philippe Petit

The practical answer is, no it would be totally impossible for young or foreign people to get access to roof of a building that stands in the heart of a giant city and to put a cable across. ~ Philippe Petit

I was born in a world of opera, theatre, films, poetry, art, and therefore, out of the wire, I made a stage. That's why they call me a high wire artist. ~ Philippe Petit

I love to remember the World Trade Centre walk, but it should not define me. ~ Philippe Petit

I don't like to risk my life, so I prepare sometimes for months or sometimes for years. But sometimes after a walk, I look what I have done, and I have a little bit of fear coming to me, just looking at pictures. ~ Philippe Petit

I started making monkey bridges, like kids do, and climbing and rappelling with ropes. Very naturally, I needed some knots. At the very beginning, I didn't care, I didn't know, and then slowly I started to know, and I started to care. I wanted to know more knots or the right knot for the special action. ~ Philippe Petit

I was never part of the sailing circle, but I enjoy when I'm invited to sail. ~ Philippe Petit

My parents were intelligent and encouraging, but at the same time, they were displeased at me becoming a wandering troubadour and wire walker. ~ Philippe Petit

Would anyone but a crazed bicephalous being, half engineer, half poet, willingly shackle himself to a venture of such magnitude? I am prisoner of my dream. ~ Philippe Petit

It's very normal - when you're not used to the world of the high wire, it's very normal to be simply terrified. The reason I'm not is because I've done it for so many years. ~ Philippe Petit

The wire is a safe place for me to be. The street is not. Life is not. It's a rigorous and simple path. It's straight. You don't have meanders like, you know, on the ground, in life. ~ Philippe Petit

Talking about theater, actually, I built a little barn in upstate New York, and I call it 'the smallest theater in the world,' but it has a mini stage and a red velvet curtain. ~ Philippe Petit

There is a child inside me that wants to come out and do something to surprise all the adults. ~ Philippe Petit

I was in art school once a week from six to 16, which was essential in shaping my artistic sensitivity. ~ Philippe Petit

It would be very, very dangerous for a wire walker to experience fear while he is balancing on the wire. Fear has its place on earth, before and maybe after a high-wire walk, but not during for me. ~ Philippe Petit

Usually, when I walk on a wire, I inspect the anchor point on both sides before crossing. ~ Philippe Petit

I wanted all my life to give my world into other arts - books, plays, movies - but I didn't want to sell out. ~ Philippe Petit

I would like to continue to tell stories of what I did in a biographical way, so I will continue to write. ~ Philippe Petit

If I have to make a self-portrait, I would put poetry and rebellion on the list. To be able to walk on a wire, to be able to juggle six hoops, you need focus, another word for tenacity, which is passion. ~ Philippe Petit

Limits exist only in the souls of those who do not dream. ~ Philippe Petit

Many people use the words 'death defying' or 'death wishing' when they talk about wire-walking. Many people have asked me: 'So do you have a death wish?' After doing a beautiful walk, I feel like punching them in the nose. It's indecent. I have a life wish. ~ Philippe Petit

Death frames the high wire. But I don't see myself as taking risks. I do all of the preparations that a non-death seeker would do. ~ Philippe Petit

Wirewalker, trust your feet! Let them lead you; they know the way. ~ Philippe Petit

I am very attracted by the mysterious landscape of Easter Island. Not only because it is a piece of land that is further away from another, but also because of the beautiful statues of Moai that are there. To do a beautiful walk there, I would have to involve the Moai, and the Rapa Nui people who live on the island. ~ Philippe Petit

To fight adversity, to improvise, to solve problems, and to save the coup, I had gathered all my senses into unusual configurations, which made me grow wild and enhanced my perceptions. ~ Philippe Petit

It's always easy to describe something complex by applying to it an already known label. ~ Philippe Petit

I am very sensitive to all form of music, painting, sculpting, dancing, and I love cinema also. For example if I look at the work of the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who happens to be a friend of mine, everything he does is inspiring to me. ~ Philippe Petit

I have been expelled from five different schools when I was a kid. And I learned basically all what I do by myself. ~ Philippe Petit

When a loved one disappears, you continue to live with the accompaniment of that person. One has to find a balance between joy and sorrow. ~ Philippe Petit

You see, it's actually very good that a human activity is performed very close to death, because that's where life is. Life is, at its most valuable and most full, very close to the boundary of life. ~ Philippe Petit

For me, when I am on the wire, I do not have a problem of eliminating or blocking fear. I do not really feel fear, although it is a fearful activity to walk in thin air, as I do without any safety device, but I am not fearful. ~ Philippe Petit

I am a thief of knowledge, and in a survival way, I had to solve all the problems around me. ~ Philippe Petit

Art is maybe a subversive activity. There is a certain rebellion when you are an artist at heart, even if only in the art of living. ~ Philippe Petit

It's very easy to walk on a wire if you spend a whole lifetime practicing for it. ~ Philippe Petit

I am fascinated by the engineering. The science of constructing and understanding why it stands. And I am drawn by the madness, the beauty, the theatricality, the poetry and soul of the wire. And you cannot be a wire-walker without mingling those two ways of seeing life. ~ Philippe Petit

On a very long and very high wire, I will not hope to not be blown off by high winds. I will have the certitude that such could not happen. ~ Philippe Petit

I love or hate things straight away. I like to go directly to action to see the result. I think I must be difficult, but at the same time, it's not for me to say. ~ Philippe Petit

The union of altitude and solitude fills me with an arrogant sense of ownership. ~ Philippe Petit

If I look at the performance of another friend Sting, whenever I hear him take over a stage and share his art with millions, it's very inspiring to me. So I have a lot in my life, a lot of friends who inspire me and I'm sure it goes the other way around, or so that I inspire them. ~ Philippe Petit

I started very early, from five or six years old, to climb. To climb trees, to climb rocks everywhere I could. At some point, of course, I used a rope. ~ Philippe Petit

As I'm studying magic, juggling is mentioned repeatedly as a great way to acquire dexterity and coordination. Now, I had long admired how fast and fluidly jugglers make objects fly. So that's it. I'm 14; I'm becoming a juggler. ~ Philippe Petit

Why does almost every ad agency in the world set the time on a watch at 10:10 before photographing it? ~ Philippe Petit

It is very normal for people on the ground to look at somebody apparently walking in midair and thinking first that person is crazy and thinking secondly that person risks his or her life. ~ Philippe Petit

I would not describe my personality. And I think when you describe people, you are making a mistake. That's not how they are; that's how you perceive them at that moment. It's limiting in front of something that is magnificent and unlimited: life. ~ Philippe Petit

On the high wire, within months, I'm able to master all the tricks they do in the circus, except I am not satisfied. ~ Philippe Petit

One more thing: Philippe, you are not a coward-so what I want to hear from you is the ecstatic truth about the twin towers. ~ Werner Herzog

There was a time when fire and story would fall asleep in unison. It was dream time. ~ Philippe Petit

Wire-walking in performance is one thing - I never fell, of course. If I had, I wouldn't be here talking about it. ~ Philippe Petit

I was not born into the world of the stuntman and the daredevil; I was born into the world of theater and writing and sculpting and classical music. ~ Philippe Petit

I don't have a career, I have a life. Don't think of a career, think about your passion and look for inspiration. ~ Philippe Petit

I will never fall prey to celebrity because I am too busy. I have other things to do than look at myself in the mirror. ~ Philippe Petit

I hate all electronic things that are supposed to help the human being. You don't smell, you don't hear, you don't touch anymore. ~ Philippe Petit

Whenever other worlds invite us, whenever we are balancing on the boundaries of our limited human condition, that's where life starts, that's where you start feeling yourself living. ~ Philippe Petit

As a high wire walker, I do not allow myself to 'leave the wire' during a performance. ~ Philippe Petit

Metaphorically speaking, of course, if I put a problem behind my pillow and fall asleep, very often because my brain went to sleep with that idea or the problem alive, very often in the middle of the night I wake up, and I wake up with a solution or with a direction of solution. ~ Philippe Petit

I've frowned at the idea of breaking records, the first one to do something, or do it longer, higher, more difficult. ~ Philippe Petit

If I am practicing on the wire, and you pushed me, I would not move, and if you take a piece of wood and beat me up on the shoulder and the head, I would not move. You would not put me out of balance. You would not be able to. I am solid as granite when I am on the tight rope, and I should be. ~ Philippe Petit

You can always find a way to do something. Now, of course, when I do the action, it's an action that inspires people, it's a gift to people, it's not the other way around, I do not take something, I do not hurt people. Yes, I think today would be more than impossible and yet part of me would think that I continue to think that nothing is impossible. ~ Philippe Petit

For years, I have been working on crossing the Grand Canyon. Actually, there is nobody who says 'no,' but since this is a project that comes from me and not a commission, I have to find the money, plan the logistics, etcetera. ~ Philippe Petit

The essential thing is to etch movements in the sky, movements so still they leave no trace. The essential thing is simplicity. / That is why the long path to perfection is horizontal. ~ Philippe Petit

An intellectual challenge presents itself? I am in bliss. Instantly, it brings forth the notion of triumph. ~ Philippe Petit

Fame was never something I was seeking in my artistic journey. It's to be used as a tool for an artist to break open doors and keep creating. That's how I enjoyed fame in '74; it was not just for the emptiness of being famous. ~ Philippe Petit

When the towers again twin-tickle the clouds, I offer to walk again, to be the expression of the builder's collective voice. Together, we will rejoice in an aerial song of victory. I will carry my life across the wire, as your life, as all our lives, past, present, and future -the lives lost, the lives welcomed since.
we can overcome. ~ Philippe Petit

When you are a young person, the world is yours. You can do the impossible. ~ Philippe Petit

When I perform outside, the major problem that could arise is strong wind.I spend months preparing for the types of wind that occur in different locations. ~ Philippe Petit

Every year, I am conscious of the anniversary of my 1974 World Trade Center walk. ~ Philippe Petit

If I see three oranges, I have to juggle. And if I see two towers, I have to walk. ~ Philippe Petit

My time is always divided when I prepare for a wire walk. First I dream, technically and artistically, and then I go to work, and I am the master rigger, climbing trees and ladders and constructing. Only then I change my cap and become the performer. ~ Philippe Petit

If I had been born in the circus, my parents would have pushed me on that little high wire at four years old. That's when the body is most limber to learn those acrobatics. ~ Philippe Petit

Of course, the slightest little mistake on the wire will deprive me of my life, so in that sense, yes, it is a dangerous profession. You have to pay attention; if not, you will lose your life. ~ Philippe Petit

Believe marvels exist around you, inside others, within yourself. Go search for them. Gallop through life and without dismounting your horse manage (like a Cossack!) to pick up bits of otherworldliness lying on the path. Feed your imagination that way. That way, shape your destiny. ~ Philippe Petit

When I see three oranges, I juggle; when I see two towers, I walk! ~ Philippe Petit

I have been performing in the street for more than 50 years: magic for basically 60 years, and the high wire 45 years. The beauty of it is that it's never the same. It's never easy. And yet, part of my art is to make it look easy. ~ Philippe Petit

It is treacherous on a high wire to change your focus point and suddenly look down. ~ Philippe Petit

On one day of the week, I relax - which is not true, I work furiously on other things. 'Relax' is not a word to me. ~ Philippe Petit

I'm a wire-walker, but actually, I'm a moviemaker that hasn't done his first movie. ~ Philippe Petit

Certainly, in the story of my life, the walk between the Twin Towers was one of the grandest, one of the most memorable, but not solely the grandest and the most memorable. ~ Philippe Petit

If a leaf fell from a tree, I'd stop juggling and play with the leaf. I went to my prop bag and got a little bandage and stuck the leaf back on the tree. People loved it. ~ Philippe Petit

My destiny no longer has me conquering the highest toowers in the world, but rather the void they protect.
This cannot be measured. ~ Philippe Petit

If it's a problem of fire, fire might very well be the answer. ~ Philippe Petit

Faith is what replaces doubt in my dictionary. ~ Philippe Petit

The less power a man has, the more he likes to use it. ~ Jean Antoine Petit-Senn