When I was younger, I felt it was my duty to wake people up. I thought poetry was asleep. I thought rock… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
People don't realize we have these built-in seven-league boots. The body can go anywhere. It is physically capable of sustaining almost any… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Social media could be very strong in terms of bringing people together but it also takes up so much of people's time… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I think masturbating is a really important function in art. People don't like to hear that kind of stuff, but it's true. — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I'm pretty moral about what I do. If I didn't think I was worthy of doing something, I wouldn't do it. I… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I like photographing dresses in windows. I actually wore a lot of dresses in the '70s. I like them on other people… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
A writer, or any artist, can’t expect to be embraced by the people [but] you just keep doing your work - because… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
One of my great goals when I first started taking photographs or showing them publicly is that people might want one for… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I'm not a critic. I'm not a journalist. I'm not a philosopher. Arguing that punk has run its course is like saying… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
People came at me with all sorts of offers, wanting to make me into a hard-core Cher. I had no desire for… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
New generations have unprecedented power to make great changes. Take the music business for example. The new generations have toppled the music… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I learned a lot from Arthur Rimbaud. People talk about how he wanted to be a seer and do that through the… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I have great respect for my parents. I got such beautiful things from both of them. It doesn't mean that we didn't… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I always hope that young people will think for themselves and also most importantly, understand that they should judge themselves on their… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I'm estranged from social media and I don't really deal with it. I tried to work on a website and it took… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I don't think the Palestinian people or Afghan children or some other things I'm concerned about are at the top of other… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Well, I'm not one of those people who needs the limelight. If I'm performing, that's what I'm doing. If I'm not, I… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I just know that young people suffer, and I also know music is one of the things that help you get through… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I have seen a lifetime of transgender people and it was hard enough being gay in the '50s and early '60s. One… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
If I feel any marginalisation, it's because the things that concern me aren't so important to other people. — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I think it's important for people to realize that we were all young, all naive, and also we had lived in a… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I felt alien my whole life, but I didn't feel alien because of my gender. Other people made me aware of my… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I don't think the area of Jerusalem should be part of a Jewish state; it belongs to all people, to Christians and… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Usually when I go to a place for the first time, unless there's something historical or spectacular that nature has to offer,… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
The thing is, it's not uncool to worry about people who seem like they're going on the wrong path. There's nothing cool… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
We all make choices. Believe me, I would like to write the hit of the world. It's not like I have any… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I can't bear working with a click track, we're not click track people. But for "Mercy Is ..." we all got in… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I always hesitate when people call me a musician.I have had no musical training. I can't play anything. I really think of… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Poetry is a solitary process. One does not write poetry for the masses. Poetry is a self-involved, lofty pursuit. Songs are for… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Those were the things on my mind [stay healthy, take care of my kids and reestablish a relationship with the people], not… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I don't think public life in and of itself can destroy you. I think it's the way people react to it, and… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Sometimes you write passages that don't need to be rewritten. Performance is that for me. Improvisation, things that happen in the moment,… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I'm more concerned with the work people do than their gender. When I was younger, I was pretty judgmental. Things had to… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
As much as I can, as much as I can afford, I keep ticket prices down. Rock 'n' roll was developed as… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Why do people want to know exactly who I am? Am I a poet? Am I this or that? I've always made… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Hopefully if you create something fine, people will relate to it, so you're communicating with people, and you're not in a void.… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
People say the media is feeding the public's hunger for celebrity news, but that's the drug pusher's mentality. I don't think anybody… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
The best thing is to motivate people to do their own work. I'm not opposed to making money. But I started to… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I get irritated with the world. I get irritated with politicians. I get very irritated with governments and with corporations, but in… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
Steven [Sebring] was documenting me as a widow with two children, going from 50 to 60 years old. My focus, during that… — Patti Smith Copy Share Image
I had a really happy childhood - my siblings were great, my mother was very fanciful, and I loved to read. But there was… — Patti Smith Copy Share
Sometimes [people] seem to think I came out of the womb, you know, cursing, with an electric guitar. — Patti Smith Copy Share
“Inside it he inscribed a few lines of poetry, portraying us as the gypsy and the fool, one creating silence; one listening closely to… — Patti Smith Copy Share
“I clawed through a thick web of the culture’s consciousness that I hadn’t known existed.” — Patti Smith Copy Share
Ultimately, we are not seeking others to bow to, but to reinforce our individual natures, to help us suffer our own choices, to guide… — Patti Smith Copy Share
If I'm taking a picture of Brancusi's grave, I know that there's something of him, of his mortal remains, beneath my feet, and there's… — Patti Smith Copy Share
I'm certain, as we filled down the great staircase, that I appeared the same as ever, a moping twelve years-old, all arms and legs.… — Patti Smith Copy Share
In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth. — Patti Smith Copy Share
New York is the thing that seduced me. New York is the thing that formed me. New York is the thing that deformed me.… — Patti Smith Copy Share
I don't wanna be equal with anybody. I wanna be above equal. I don't think most people are equal to me. I'd like to… — Patti Smith Copy Share
Somehow I started introducing writing into my drawings, and after a time, the language took over and I started getting very involved with the… — Patti Smith Copy Share
I'm okay with roaming around the world in my bunk for days on end. Maybe every third day I'll get a shower or stumble… — Patti Smith Copy Share
![“A writer, or any artist, can’t expect to be embraced by the people [but] you just keep doing your work - because you have to, because it’s your calling.” quote by Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cd/patti-smith-394_art_a-writer-or-any-artist-can-t-expect-to-b_2623165.jpg)
![“Those were the things on my mind [stay healthy, take care of my kids and reestablish a relationship with the people], not career, money, drugs, sex, alcohol or fun. Not that there's anything wrong with any of those things, but they aren't in the film [Dream of Life], because that wasn't my life at…” quote by Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/patti-smith-394_alcohol_those-were-the-things-on-my-mind-stay-he_1541528.jpg)
![“Steven [Sebring] was documenting me as a widow with two children, going from 50 to 60 years old. My focus, during that time, was to rediscover myself, stay healthy, take care of my kids and reestablish a relationship with the people.” quote by Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/patti-smith-394_care_steven-sebring-was-documenting-me-as-a-w_207231.jpg)
