On the wire

I thought of something Karl Wallenda, the father of the Flying Wallendas, had once said.  It was the day immediately following the worst tragedy that had ever befallen the famous circus high-wire act.  Less than twenty-four hours earlier, three members of his family had fallen to their deaths before thousands of horror-stricken onlookers when the seven-man pyramid had collapsed.  Reporters had asked Wallenda how he could go back out on the wire so soon after the accident.  ”Life,” replied Wallenda, “is always on the wire.” 
                Kinky Friedman, The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover