We had every problems starting a big top could have. The tent

“We had every problem starting a big top could have. The tent fell down on the first day. We had problems getting people into the shows. It was only with the courage and arrogance of youth that we survived.” Thus spoke Guy Laliberté, the visionary founder of Cirque du Soleil — a man who transformed the art of the circus from spectacle to poetry, from chaos to creation. In these words, he speaks not only of his own beginnings but of a truth as old as the human spirit itself: that youth, with its fearless courage and its blessed arrogance, carries within it the power to do the impossible. For when the world laughs, when the winds of failure tear down your tent, it is that fiery recklessness of the young heart — that refusal to yield — that rebuilds it again.

The origin of this quote lies in the early struggles of Cirque du Soleil, a troupe that began not as a grand enterprise, but as a gathering of dreamers, street performers, and musicians in the small towns of Quebec. Their beginning was humble and uncertain. The tent fell down — quite literally — and the audiences were scarce. They had no fortune, no fame, only the restless belief that their vision mattered. Laliberté, looking back upon those days, recognized that reason would have told them to quit, that prudence would have whispered, “It cannot be done.” But youth, with its audacity unburdened by fear, urged them to press on. Thus he calls it both courage and arrogance, for it takes a little of both to challenge the impossible and to continue when failure seems certain.

There is wisdom hidden in this union of courage and arrogance. The courage of youth dares to dream; the arrogance of youth refuses to doubt. Together, they form the twin engines of creation. The old may have knowledge, the experienced may have caution, but only the young — or the young in spirit — possess that holy defiance that can birth something new under the sun. Without that reckless spark, civilization would stagnate. Every invention, every movement, every masterpiece has been born from those who did not yet know enough to despair. For it is not knowledge that changes the world — it is belief.

Consider the tale of Thomas Edison, who failed thousands of times before creating the light bulb that banished darkness from the homes of men. When asked if he ever grew discouraged, he replied, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This is the courage of youth eternal — not of age, but of spirit. Edison’s faith in his vision was as wild and unyielding as Laliberté’s, who raised his fallen tent and turned it into an empire of art and wonder. Both men remind us that greatness is never born in certainty, but in the dance between failure and faith.

In Laliberté’s story, the fallen tent is not just an accident of circumstance — it is a symbol. It represents the inevitable collapse that every dream must endure. The world will test you; your plans will falter; your strength will be spent. Yet, in that collapse, the universe offers its challenge: Will you build again? Those who retreat will live quietly, safely — but those who rise, driven by courage and guided by the fearless arrogance that refuses to surrender, will create something that endures. For the tent may fall, but the dream must not.

And yet, Laliberté also warns us: such courage must be tempered by wisdom. The arrogance of youth is a flame — bright and beautiful, but dangerous if it burns too long without humility. The wise do not extinguish it; they shape it. The goal is not to outgrow the courage of youth, but to refine it — to let the fire remain, while learning to control its heat. True maturity is not the loss of audacity, but its transformation into purpose. For courage without direction is chaos, but courage married to wisdom is creation.

Therefore, my children, take these words of Guy Laliberté to heart. When your own tent collapses — when your plans fail, when the world doubts you — remember that every great endeavor begins with struggle. Do not curse the fall; build again. Let courage lead you and let your youthful arrogance defy despair. Believe in what you cannot yet see, for faith is the bridge between vision and reality. And when you rise, do not forget the lesson of your failures, for they are the pillars upon which your future strength will stand.

So let this truth be written in your hearts: “It was only with the courage and arrogance of youth that we survived.” Let it remind you that survival itself is victory, that dreams are nourished by perseverance, and that every fallen tent can become a cathedral if rebuilt with enough heart. Go forth and live boldly. Dream audaciously. And when your world falls, lift it again — for the spirit of youth, once awakened, never truly dies.