--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What is the impulse that drove to direct?…" description: "\"What is the impulse that drove to direct? To me, it seems so immense. Just having a rock 'n' roll band, or to go from the solitude of writing and to ha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/patti-smith-394_direct_what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct_2858937.jpg" --- # What is the impulse that drove to direct? To me, it seems… ![“What is the impulse that drove to direct? To me, it seems so immense. Just having a rock 'n' roll band, or to go from the solitude of writing and to having to collaborate, is almost schizophrenic.” quote by Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/patti-smith-394_direct_what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct_2858937.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/patti-smith-394_direct_what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct_2858937.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/patti-smith-394_direct_what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct_2858937.jpg) > “What is the impulse that drove to direct? To me, it seems so immense. Just having a rock 'n' roll band, or to go from the solitude of writing and to having to collaborate, is almost schizophrenic.” [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She describes the intense, conflicting drive between solitary creation and collaborative rock performance. **In simple terms:** She feels torn between solo writing and band collaboration. Key Takeaway Embrace both solitude and collaboration for artistic growth. Themes creativity collaboration identity Mood introspective energetic Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - Songwriting - band dynamics - personal branding Key Concepts Artistic duality psychology of musicians Questions to Reflect On - How do you manage creative conflict? - What benefits arise from collaboration? A Different Perspective Balancing opposing impulses can cause inner tension. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Collaborate Schizophrenic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collaborate-schizophrenic-3846872/) [Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) [Having Collaborate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-collaborate-3846873/) [Having Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-rock-1508875/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Impulse Drove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse-drove-3846871/) [Music making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music-making/) [Schizophrenic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schizophrenic/) [Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solitude/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Having rock-star problems may be the closest I ever get to being an actual rock star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/having-rock-star-problems-may-be-the-closest-i-ever-get-to-being-an/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“Living with uncertainty is like having a rock in your shoe. If you can’t remove the rock, you have to figure out how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-timberlake/living-with-uncertainty-is-like-having-a-rock-in-your-shoe-if-you-can/) [Amy Timberlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-timberlake/) > [I don't even think about having a "rock-star profile." But sure, I always think, "Wouldn't it be great to have your friends along for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-britt-daniel/i-don-t-even-think-about-having-a-rock-star-profile-but-sure-i-always/) [John Britt Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-britt-daniel/) > [I don't know about that. I'm not a very analytical person. I have various impulses. I've often quoted Walt Whitman's phrase "I contain multitudes."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-don-t-know-about-that-i-m-not-a-very-analytical-person-i-have/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [So companies have to be very schizophrenic. On one hand, they have to maintain continuity of strategy. But they also have to be good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-porter/so-companies-have-to-be-very-schizophrenic-on-one-hand-they-have-to/) [Michael Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-porter/) > [“The teacher pulled out a pile of papers. They were Bennie’s tests and homework assignments. Mrs. Lewis said, “Ma’am, here is the proof that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-phifer/the-teacher-pulled-out-a-pile-of-papers-they-were-bennie-s-tests-and/) [Harold Phifer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-phifer/) > [I'm a southern girl, and I grew up with this slightly schizophrenic upbringing where I bounced back and forth between Atlanta, Georgia, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-myracle/i-m-a-southern-girl-and-i-grew-up-with-this-slightly-schizophrenic/) [Lauren Myracle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-myracle/) > [Hollywood was born schizophrenic. For 75 years it has been both a town and a state of mind, an industry and an art form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-corliss/hollywood-was-born-schizophrenic-for-75-years-it-has-been-both-a-town/) [Richard Corliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-corliss/) > [If, in order to be calm you must shut down the voices in your head... take it easy, that only means that you've gone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-gonzalez/if-in-order-to-be-calm-you-must-shut-down-the-voices-in-your-head/) [Joaquin Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-gonzalez/) > [“It was exhausting being a schizophrenic, which he was still convinced he was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-wolitzer/it-was-exhausting-being-a-schizophrenic-which-he-was-still-convinced/) [Meg Wolitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-wolitzer/) > [“The schizophrenic in the sleeping bag with a live chicken and a can of tomato soup spilling onto the sidewalk had no right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-schizophrenic-in-the-sleeping-bag-with-a-live-chicken-and-a-can/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [I've been called 'musically schizophrenic,' and some people think that's a cool thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-clark-jr/i-ve-been-called-musically-schizophrenic-and-some-people-think-that-s/) [Gary Clark, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-clark-jr/) > [Art is ultimately schizophrenic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver/art-is-ultimately-schizophrenic/) [Oliver $](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver/) > [It's almost schizophrenic who I portray in my music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-weeknd/it-s-almost-schizophrenic-who-i-portray-in-my-music/) [The Weeknd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-weeknd/) > [If a person does not listen to the demands of their own spiritual and heart life and insists on a certain program, you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-a-person-does-not-listen-to-the-demands-of-their-own-spiritual-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) ## More by Patti Smith > [I had a really happy childhood - my siblings were great, my mother was very fanciful, and I loved to read. But there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-had-a-really-happy-childhood-my-siblings-were-great-my-mother-was/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [As a citizen, hopefully I'm humanist. As an artist, I'm free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/as-a-citizen-hopefully-i-m-humanist-as-an-artist-i-m-free/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [ Sometimes \[people\] seem to think I came out of the womb, you know, cursing, with an electric guitar. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/sometimes-people-seem-to-think-i-came-out-of-the-womb-you-know/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“Inside it he inscribed a few lines of poetry, portraying us as the gypsy and the fool, one creating silence; one listening closely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/inside-it-he-inscribed-a-few-lines-of-poetry-portraying-us-as-the/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Who can know the heart of youth but youth itself?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/who-can-know-the-heart-of-youth-but-youth-itself/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“I clawed through a thick web of the culture’s consciousness that I hadn’t known existed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-clawed-through-a-thick-web-of-the-culture-s-consciousness-that-i/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Ultimately, we are not seeking others to bow to, but to reinforce our individual natures, to help us suffer our own choices, to guide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/ultimately-we-are-not-seeking-others-to-bow-to-but-to-reinforce-our/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/if-i-m-taking-a-picture-of-brancusi-s-grave-i-know-that-there-s/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [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.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-m-certain-as-we-filled-down-the-great-staircase-that-i-appeared-the/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/in-art-and-dream-may-you-proceed-with-abandon-in-life-may-you-proceed/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [New York is the thing that seduced me. New York is the thing that formed me. New York is the thing that deformed me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/new-york-is-the-thing-that-seduced-me-new-york-is-the-thing-that/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-don-t-wanna-be-equal-with-anybody-i-wanna-be-above-equal-i-don-t/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [I think I'm constantly in a state of adjustment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-think-i-m-constantly-in-a-state-of-adjustment/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Somehow I started introducing writing into my drawings, and after a time, the language took over and I started getting very involved with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/somehow-i-started-introducing-writing-into-my-drawings-and-after-a/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-m-okay-with-roaming-around-the-world-in-my-bunk-for-days-on-end/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) [Explore all 595 Patti Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) ## More Direct quotes > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody can direct a picture once they know the fundamentals. Directing is not a mystery, it's not an art. The main thing about directing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ford/anybody-can-direct-a-picture-once-they-know-the-fundamentals/) [John Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ford/) > [The method of magnitude estimation provided a direct measure of sensation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-smith-stevens/the-method-of-magnitude-estimation-provided-a-direct-measure-of/) [Stanley Smith Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-smith-stevens/) > [A place has almost the shyness of a person, with strangers; and its secret is not to be surprised by a too direct interrogation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-symons/a-place-has-almost-the-shyness-of-a-person-with-strangers-and-its/) [Arthur Symons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-symons/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I'm currently trying to direct my own material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-skerritt/i-m-currently-trying-to-direct-my-own-material/) [Tom Skerritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-skerritt/) > [By the time you get into other kinds of music - R&B, country, or whatever - it becomes something that's romantic. It becomes something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/by-the-time-you-get-into-other-kinds-of-music-r-b-country-or-whatever/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [There's little in taking or giving, There's little in water or wine: This living, this living, this living, Was never a project of mine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-parker/there-s-little-in-taking-or-giving-there-s-little-in-water-or-wine/) [Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-parker/) > [If you take all the food aid, America is by far the most generous country. If you take the direct aid, we're very generous.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/if-you-take-all-the-food-aid-america-is-by-far-the-most-generous/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I understand the formula that producers hire directors and directors are hired to direct and actors are hired to act. I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-trejo/i-understand-the-formula-that-producers-hire-directors-and-directors/) [Danny Trejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-trejo/) > [They are the gateway for our modern esthetic development, the prophets of the new time. They are most of all, the primitives of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/they-are-the-gateway-for-our-modern-esthetic-development-the-prophets/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [I'm too direct and too unsparingly impatient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-maclaine/i-m-too-direct-and-too-unsparingly-impatient/) [Shirley MacLaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-maclaine/) > [Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/steven-spielberg-seems-to-have-wanted-to-be-a-director-from-13-he-put/) [Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Violence is what people do when they run out of good ideas. It's attractive because it's simple, it's direct, it's almost always available as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/violence-is-what-people-do-when-they-run-out-of-good-ideas-it-s/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) [Browse all 3,391 Direct quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is the impulse that drove to direct? To me, it seems so immense. Just having a rock 'n' roll band, or to go from the solitude of writing and to having to collaborate, is almost schizophrenic.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Patti Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct-to-me-it-seems-so-immense/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Direct" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct-to-me-it-seems-so-immense/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/patti-smith-394_direct_what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct_2858937.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/patti-smith-394_direct_what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct_2858937.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/550/patti-smith-394_direct_what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct_2858937.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What is the impulse that drove to direct? To me, it seems so immense. Just having a rock 'n' roll band, or…” — Patti Smith", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Patti Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What is the impulse that drove...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct-to-me-it-seems-so-immense/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/what-is-the-impulse-that-drove-to-direct-to-me-it-seems-so-immense/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```