38. PHILIPPE PETIT: Impossible is possible
Philippe Petit (1949-) is a French high-wire artist famous for committing the ‘artistic crime of the century’, and in my opinion is one of the bravest, craziest people to have ever lived. In 1974, Petit tight-roped walked between the top of the twin towers with no safety equipment at all, spending 45 minutes on the tightrope, crossing back and forth multiple times, dancing, jumping and even lying down on the rope. What he did was spellbinding, magical and truly inspiring. Petit’s World Trade Center walk was the subject of the brilliant documentary Man On Wire which won the Best Documentary Oscar in 2008 and currently holds the highest Rotten Tomatoes ranking ever. Not just among documentaries but the highest ranking film of all time! This particular quote was taken from the documentary series New York: Center of the World – you can watch the clip here.
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Yes, you almost left out “illegal”. Certainly interesting, but inspiring?
I found it very inspiring. It took Petit 6 years of planning and determination in the midst of constant setbacks and people calling him crazy. In the end he set out what he had planned and brought some joy and wonder to the whole world.
I can see the danger in considering a “criminal” to be inspiring. At some point, many of the most inspirational people were rejected by the majority for their actions, and did things that were against the law, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., but certainly made a positive impact on the world.
In reality, he didn’t harm anybody (unless he actually fell and landed on somebody). I still see the message and amazing amount of determination it took to perform what he did and actually succeed…even though if it is totally and completely batshit insane.
I don’t judge the ethics of an act on whether it’s illegal or not but rather on the act and how it affects others and the person doing the act. In this case of tight-roping, it was something Philippe was truly passionate about and it inspired millions. Great comic Gav!
To blanket all laws as equal when broken immediately goes against our system where differing laws have differing consequences. Just because something artistically amazing goes against a law of our time, does not discredit the concept and the quote. I find this quote phenomenal.
WOOHOO! Dream the Impossible and Make it Reality!
Why let the law get in the way of inspiration???
heheh.I’ve watched this doco on him a couple of times, but it never stopped to amazed me, his determination and his assistants, having to lie and hide from security for days. It was wonderful!
isn’t funny how IMPOSSIBLE can also be read as I’M POSSIBLE!
it’s a matter of perspective really. what’s impossible for you may not be the case for other people.
but i still consider him crazy for doing that stunt on the WTC! LOL
on frame 2 he looks a bit like a woman..hehe
awesome quote. Man on Wire was a beautiful movie as well. btw, sad to hear youre moving to 2 posts a week, though totally understandable. Frankly I’m impressed that you were able to keep such a high output for so long.
You should get TUMBLR! I’m sure you would get loads of followers and people would be re-blogging you like crazy! In fact, that’s how my friends and I came to know about you. Someone posted a comic of yours on their blog and we found out about this amazing website.
Keep up the good work! Sending love from Canada!!
Well, NOW it’s impossible. Nice going Osama.
I can hear Philippe’s voice when I read your cartoon.