Artists are traditionally resistant to labels. Patti Smith More Quotes by Patti Smith More Quotes From Patti Smith We wanted, it seemed, what we already had, a lover and a friend to create with, side by side. To be loyal, yet be free. Patti Smith loyalloverssides Since childhood, it was my dream to go where all the poets and artists had been. Rimbaud, Artaud, Brancusi, Camus, Picasso, Bresson, Goddard, Jeanne Moreau, Juliette Greco, everybody - Paris for me was a Mecca. Patti Smith parisartistdream Rock & roll is like a painting. Can great paintings still be done? It depends on who holds the brush. Patti Smith paintingrocksdone Should I pursue a path so twisted? Should I crawl defeated and gifted? Patti Smith unanswered-questionstwistedpath People came at me with all sorts of offers, wanting to make me into a hard-core Cher. I had no desire for any amount of money to be reformed for someone's vision, because in the end, that's what you got: your clay in someone else's hands. Patti Smith visionhandspeople I think I work in two worlds. I'll always try to kick through a wall. I did that when I was younger and I still have my way of doing that. Patti Smith walltwothinking Often the simplest song is the hardest to write. Patti Smith hardestwritingsong There were days, rainy gray days, when the streets of Brooklyn were worthy of a photograph, every window the lens of a Leica, the view grainy and immobile. We gathered our colored pencils and sheets of paper and drew like wild, feral children into the night, until, exhausted, we fell into bed. We lay in each other's arms, still awkward but happy, exchanging breathless kisses into sleep. Patti Smith kissingsleepchildren I love my little overgrown yard. And my house is wonderful. It's everything that I need. Patti Smith houselittlesneeds The film [Dream of Life] is not really an amateur work, despite the fact that none of us have ever done anything like this before; aesthetically, none of us are amateurs. Patti Smith donedreamfacts I wasn't thinking so much of music. I wasnt thinking so much of perfection or stardom or any of that stuff. Patti Smith perfectionstuffthinking I wasn't taking drugs or drinking. I was working and working and working. But I wasn't writing anything. Patti Smith drugdrinkingwriting Nothing is a hobby - each discipline is its own world with its own high standards. Of course, every artist has 'minor works' that they do, but I don't think I have any 'minor disciplines.' Patti Smith disciplineartistthinking Ultimately, we are not seeking others to bow to, but to reinforce our individual natures, to help us suffer our own choices, to guide us on our own particular journeys. Patti Smith choicesjourneysuffering As I grew up, one of my strongest allies has been my sister. Patti Smith alliesgrew-upmy-sister I don't know why, the very first word on my very first record is 'Jesus.' I still invoke him as an entity to reckon with. Patti Smith recordsjesusfirsts I never thought of being a performer, never thought of being a singer, never thought of being a photographer. It's just the trajectory of my work. I go to the medium that serves the vision. Patti Smith singersvisionphotographer If you over-plan, you close the door on possibilities. Patti Smith possibilityplansdoors The two things that constantly inspired me were books and travel. Patti Smith inspiredtwobook I started going to Bible school really early in life. Being raised a Jehovah's Witness, I had to read the Bible over and over. These stories were so horrifying and really difficult to reconcile. For me, Noah wasn't the story of the graham cracker box with the little animals it was horrifying. I would ask the same questions as a child. "Well, what about the little kids? What about the dogs and cats?" Patti Smith dogchildrenschool
