Poetry Quotes by Patti Smith

“It had started with the moon, inaccessible poem that it was.”

— Patti Smith

I always wrote like rock 'n' roll. And I always listen to rock 'n' roll as poetry.

— Patti Smith

Remember, we are mortal, but poetry is not.

— Patti Smith

“Why do we write? A chorus erupts. Because we cannot simply live.”

— Patti Smith

My style of performance poetry came from the beatniks, Allen Ginsberg.

— Patti Smith

“So be we king or be we bum the reed still whistles the heart still hums”

— Patti Smith

“Everything here is a small offense and not of value as art or confession. It is not a whim. It is an…

— Patti Smith

What I wanted to do in rock 'n roll was merge poetry with sonic scapes, and the two people who had contributed…

— Patti Smith

Vowels are the most illuminated letters in the alphabet. Vowels are the colors and souls of poetry and speech. (1976 Penthouse interview)

— Patti Smith

I came into music because I thought the presentation of poetry wasn't vibrant enough. So I merged improvised poetry with basic rock…

— Patti Smith

I'd try to write my poems in a certain rhythm. I had my rock 'n' roll stuff for performing and my denser…

— Patti Smith

After writing all day I go for a walk and see a piece of architecture i want to photograph and i have…

— Patti Smith

When I was younger, I felt it was my duty to wake people up. I thought poetry was asleep. I thought rock…

— Patti Smith

We believe we will raise the sky, we got to fly over the land, over the sea. Fate unwinds and if we…

— Patti Smith

The Bible is very resonant. It has everything: creation, betrayal, lust, poetry, prophecy, sacrifice. All great things are in the Bible, and…

— Patti Smith

“I understood that what matters is the work: the string of words propelled by God becoming a poem, the weave of color…

— Patti Smith

I wanted to remember the original energy; strip away all the glamour and limousines and tons of drugs. I wanted to get…

— Patti Smith

I'm not really a musician. I'm a performer, and I love rock n' roll. I've embraced rock n' roll because it encompasses…

— Patti Smith

I've embraced rock 'n' roll because it encompasses all the things I'm interested in: poetry, revolution, sexuality, political activism - all of…

— Patti Smith

Since childhood, it was my dream to go where all the poets and artists had been. Rimbaud, Artaud, Brancusi, Camus, Picasso, Bresson,…

— Patti Smith

“The light poured through the windows upon his photographs and the poem of us sitting together a last time. Robert dying: creating…

— Patti Smith

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

If I have any regrets, I could say that I'm sorry I wasn't a better writer or a better singer...When I was…

— Patti Smith

“...slowly I discerned a familiar shift in my concentration. That compulsion that prohibits me from completely surrendering to a work of art,…

— Patti Smith

Yet you could feel a vibration in the air, a sense of hastening. It had started with the moon, inaccessible poem that…

— Patti Smith

As an artist, I never wanted to be fettered by gender nor recognized or defined as a female poet, musician or singer.…

— Patti Smith

The bible is very resonant. It has everything, creation, betrayal, lust, poetry, prophecy, sacrifice. All great things are in the bible and…

— Patti Smith

“Now, I can tell you about some women writers who truly are fantastic. One is Anna Kavan. She writes stories like I…

— Patti Smith

I always wanted to be an artist, writer and poet since I was seven, and one has to live long enough to…

— Patti Smith

The hand above turns those leaves of loves, all in all a timeless view. Each dream of life flung from paradise everlasting,…

— Patti Smith

I was so used to doing art that my fingers were like albino spiders. So it was just natural for me to…

— Patti Smith

I never felt oppressed because of my gender. When I'm writing a poem or drawing, I'm not a female; I'm an artist.

— Patti Smith

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

I didn't love Jim Morrison 'cause he was self-destructive. I loved him because of his work. Because of the way he merged…

— Patti Smith

“Inside it he inscribed a few lines of poetry, portraying us as the gypsy and the fool, one creating silence; one listening…

— Patti Smith

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

That's what artists do, that's what poets do - we all do it. We start with something, and sometimes we destroy everything…

— Patti Smith

“Everything comes down so pasteurized everything comes down 16 degrees they say your amplifier is too loud turn your amplifier down are…

— Patti Smith

I remember when you were born, it was dawn and the storm settled near my belly. And I rolled in the grass…

— Patti Smith