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 PetitRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is most meaningful when we are aware of its fragility and proximity to death.
Philippe Petit suggests that the most profound experiences in life often come when we are confronted with the reality of our mortality. By acknowledging the closeness of death, we can fully appreciate the richness and value of our lives, embracing the present moment with greater intensity and clarity.
Themes
LifeDeathValueMortalityExperience
In practice
Example use cases
In a graduation speech to inspire students to embrace each moment.
More from Philippe Petit
All quotes →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 PetitRead
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 PetitRead
It's very easy to walk on a wire if you spend a whole lifetime practicing for it.
Philippe PetitRead
I am not up there by chance. I am there by choice. And I know the wire. And I know my limits. And I am a madman of details.
Philippe PetitRead
It is treacherous on a high wire to change your focus point and suddenly look down.
Philippe PetitRead
Similar quotes
I was early taught by sorrow to shed tears, and now when sudden joy lights up, or any unexpected sorrow strikes my heart, I find it difficult to repress the full and swelling tide of feeling.
Dorothea DixRead
People only say I'm angry because I'm black and I'm a woman. But all sorts of people write with strong feeling, the way I do.
Jamaica KincaidRead
I am sitting with a philosopher in the garden; he says again and again 'I know that that’s a tree', pointing to a tree that is near us. Someone else arrives and hears this, and I tell him: 'This fellow isn’t insane. We are only doing philosophy.
Ludwig WittgensteinRead
Physically robust infrastructure is not enough if it fails to foster a healthy community; ultimately, all infrastructure is social.
Pete ButtigiegRead
To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin.
Thomas AquinasRead
We are swimming on the face of time and all else has drowned, is drowning, or will drown.
Henry MillerRead