Philippe Petit

I didn't go to school much. I was thrown out of different schools, and my university is the street.

I was thrown out of different schools because I was practicing my arts - magic, juggling, and the high wire.

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

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.

Obsessed people are not humorless at all.

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.

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.

Everybody wanted me to be rich and famous on my art. And I said no to all the commercials and all the seedy offers.

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

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

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.

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.