P

Patti Smith

17 quotes

A name that surfaces again and again in collections of great quotes, Patti Smith clearly understood the power of language. Patti Smith's observations on Poetry are as sharp as their thoughts on Positive, revealing genuine breadth of mind. Our collection holds 19 quotes from Patti Smith, each offering a different angle on Poetry, Positive, Freedom, Change, and Women. Consider this gem from Patti Smith: "Good news doesn't necessarily have to be a positive thing. Bringing good news is imparting hope to one's fellow man."

“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

Poetry

All Quotes by Patti Smith

“We tried not to age, but time had its rage.”

— Patti Smith

Age

“In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth.”

— Patti Smith

Art

“My mom loved rock 'n roll. My father hated it. We couldn't play it when he was around.”

— Patti Smith

Mom

“Good news doesn't necessarily have to be a positive thing. Bringing good news is imparting hope to one's fellow man.”

— Patti Smith

Hope

“Then I read Little Women, and of course, like a lot of really young girls, I was very taken with Jo - Jo being the writer and the misfit.”

— Patti Smith

Women

“From very early on in my childhood - four, five years old - I felt alien to the human race. I felt very comfortable with thinking I was from another planet, because I felt disconnected - I was very tall and skinny, and I didn't look like anybody else, I didn't even look like any member of my family.”

— Patti Smith

Family

“What I really like is an intelligent review. It doesn't have to be positive. A review that has some kind of insight, and sometimes people say something that's startling or is so poignant.”

— Patti Smith

Positive

“I'm not saying I wasn't flawed or amateurish. But you can never say I did anything to appease the music business.”

— Patti Smith

Business

“I don't think the Palestinian people or Afghan children or some other things I'm concerned about are at the top of other people's agendas - not right now, when America is going through such a recession and people are suffering across the board financially. But I think all that will change.”

— Patti Smith

Change

“I've always looked the same. Since I was a child, I hated having to deal with my hair. I hated having to change my clothes. As a kid, I had a sailor shirt and the same old corduroy pants, and that's what I wanted to wear everyday.”

— Patti Smith

Change

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

— Patti Smith

Poetry

“No, my work does not reflect my sexual preferences, it reflects the fact that I feel total freedom as an artist.”

— Patti Smith

Freedom

“The idea of redemption is always good news, even if it means sacrifice or some difficult times.”

— Patti Smith

Good

“What I wanted to do in rock 'n roll was merge poetry with sonic scapes, and the two people who had contributed so much to that were Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison.”

— Patti Smith

Poetry

“To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It's freedom.”

— Patti Smith

Freedom

“The new artists coming through were very materialistic and Hollywood, not so engaged in communication.”

— Patti Smith

Communication

“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

Poetry