William Klein Quotes

In my twenties, I was a huge, insane risk-taker.

The thing about plummetting downhill at fifty miles an hour on a snack platter - if you realize it's a bad idea when you're halfway down, it's too late.

I never trashed a hotel room or did drugs.

I usually get myself into situations that cause sparks. I mean I'm a girl that likes the storms. I love feeling alive, I love walking out in the cold in my bare feet and feeling the ice on my toes.

For a while, I had this uncontrollable urge - this addiction to danger. Now I look back and I think, 'Gee, what an idiot. I was risking my life just for the sensation of it.'

I was always the guy who jumped off the roof of the garage, who could climb up the facade of a building.

When I was in my twenties, it felt like I was riding wild horses, and I was hoping I didn't go over a cliff.

I woke up many mornings not knowing what I'd done the night before. I'm amazed I'm not dead.

The definition of a stupid thing is something that if you do everything right, you still get hurt. Fire-eating and love are stupid things.

When I was 18, I was halfway up the Eiffel Tower with my friend, Tom, when we decided to stick our heads through the railings. The gap between the railings was exactly the right size to be able to put your head through and nearly get stuck. Which is exactly what happened.

Humans have a tendency towards short-term thinking.

I think I live life really spontaneously. That drives people crazy.

I was kind of wild. I enjoyed myself as a young man. I was moving 100 miles per hour - on and off the field.

We'd be doing parkour on my high school roof; we'd get in trouble. But I was never a reckless kid.

I like to fly close to the edge. I like to play with fire.

I could jump out of this window feet first, which would be the safe way. But the way I'd do it would be to use a ramp, get a running start, dive through head first and maybe throw in a little roll at the end. Doing it that way makes it more spectacular.

It is actually quite exciting when you're flying headfirst into a barrier — the initial part, the initial part is actually quite fun, especially when you hit the gravel trap and you get some air, and then you see it coming and you think 'erk — it's gonna hurt!'

Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast, Ready with every nod to tumble down Into the fatal bowels of the deep.

And here I thought you had a soft spot for reckless young girls.

People like that don't need a reason apart from "because I can". They have a nightmare and try to make it happen.

When I was young and didn't have money, I liked gambling because winning and losing was fun for the rush of it. The amount of money that I would have to put down now to get that rush, there is no f'ing way I'm going to do it. It's just stupid. I would rather get that rush some other way.

When there is pleasure, there is often abandon, and mistakes are made.

If I wanted to go crazy I would do it in Washington because it would not be noticed

For the satiated, both sex and speed are pretty boring until the element of danger and even death is introduced.

What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been named ADHD poster child of the year.