Let’s just say that I think any person who aspires, presumes, or feels the calling to be an artist has a built-in sense of duty. – Patti Smith
I had a handful of records, but when I was 11 years old, I liked Puccini as much as Little Richard. They both made sense to me. – Patti Smith
Sure I destroyed my guitar at every concert, but it was okay, because I’d always get a shiny new one the very next day. – Patti Smith
My father’s mother was from Liverpool and she had this very beautiful English china. I only wanted to drink my cocoa out of my grandmother’s cup and saucer. – Patti Smith
I think we have a creative impulse where suffering can magnify our work, but so can joy. You can be in love and write the greatest love song ever. Sometimes I think too much suffering makes it difficult to do one’s work. – Patti Smith
If I feel any marginalisation, it’s because the things that concern me aren’t so important to other people. – Patti Smith
The Bible is very resonant. It has everything: creation, betrayal, lust, poetry, prophecy, sacrifice. All great things are in the Bible, and all great writers have drawn from it and more than people realise, whether Shakespeare, Herman Melville or Bob Dylan. – Patti Smith
I’m always writing. And, I mean, I always counsel people when they call me a musician: I really do not have the skills of a musician. I really don’t think like a musician, though I love music and I perform and sing. – 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
I was never a singer; I can’t play any instruments; I had no training. Plus, I was brought up in a time when all the great rock stars were male. I didn’t have any template for what I was doing. I did what I did out of frustration and concern. – Patti Smith
It’s not uncool to worry about people who seem like they’re going on the wrong path. There’s nothing cool about being self-destructive. – Patti Smith
It’s no secret – I love detective fiction. One of the reasons I love being in London is because I like to watch all the shows on TV. I watch them all. I like ‘Detective Frost.’ – Patti Smith
A lot of my audience are in their 50s. But they want me to pretend to continue to be pretending. – Patti Smith
I want to be around a really long time. I want to be a thorn in the side of everything as long as possible. – Patti Smith
There are so many great 19th-century photographers, and it’s really my favorite period, but the amateurs did such beautiful work. – Patti Smith
When I was younger, I felt it was my duty to wake people up. I thought poetry was asleep. I thought rock ‘n’ roll was asleep. – 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 always financial strife. – Patti Smith
When I was young, I was offered my first recording contract in 1971 and was offered quite a bit of money if I would change my character and be a ’70s version of Cher. – 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 something beautiful about that. – Patti Smith
I was in musical comedy. And I did very well, but the memorization killed me. I’m not good at memorizing, and it gave me a lot of anxiety. I hated the makeup. I hated all that pancake makeup. I didn’t really like dressing for parts. – Patti Smith
For Christmas every year, my mother used to give me those cheap little diaries that would tell your horoscope and provide a little blank slot for each day. – Patti Smith
My mother and father had so many ups and downs and stayed with each other and helped each other. My mother took in ironing and she was a waitress. My father was working in the factory and he did people’s tax returns. – Patti Smith