Quotes from Philippe Petit

I found out that total creativity involves a certain intellectual rebellion - not to become a criminal, but somehow. to be totally creating, you have to do things that are a little bit forbidden. You have to feel free, and we know freedom is a hard thing to get.

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

My first walk illegally at 20 years old was between the towers of Notre Dame.

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

How could I share with you how I felt when two towers that I loved, two pieces of steel and glass and concrete fell down, when actually they took with them thousands of human lives? That is the actual tragedy. But those towers were almost human for me. I was in love with them, and that's why I married them with a tight rope.

I focus, I invent, I transform, I challenge, I attempt, I observe, I perform.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

When I was six years old, I fell in love with magic. For Christmas, I got a magic box and a very old book on card manipulation. Somehow, I was more interested in pure manipulation than in all the silly little tricks in the box.

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

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.

I needed more knowledge in rigging and knotting. I started collecting books on knots and really learning more and more. That's how it started. And also in magic, of course. With a piece of rope, you can do magic.

Passion is the motto of all my actions.

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.

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.

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

Obsessed people are not humorless at all.

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.

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