I'm not really a nostalgic person. Patti Smith More Quotes by Patti Smith More Quotes From Patti Smith I didn't write about aspects of my public life because that's a small part of my life. Patti Smith small-parts aspect writing By the time I was 10 or 11, I was completely demoralized. I thought, "I'm done. I'm never going to be a missionary," because my indiscretion column, whether it was little lies or stealing a Chunky bar, kept me from sainthood. Patti Smith bars done lying I was quite an insomniac. I rarely slept as a child. Having God to talk to at night was nice. Patti Smith nice night children Obviously, I'm not homeless. I'm not an old alcoholic. I'm not jumping trains. I just like to live in a certain way. Patti Smith homeless jumping way My introduction to photography and a lot of how I developed aesthetically was through '50s and early-'60s fashion magazines like Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. Patti Smith magazines fashion photography I just like living in certain atmospheres. Or I just like people as they are. Patti Smith atmosphere certain people I'm from South Jersey: The idea of eating a roll with olive oil and anchovies or some kind of sardine and drinking mint tea definitely comes from reading Paul Bowles. Patti Smith reading drinking ideas I was real religious when I was young. I wanted to be a missionary. Patti Smith real religious missionary I think it's really great that people share their work [on Myspace] and no one is paying for it. I think that's a very healthy thing and it's not a corporate thing. Patti Smith healthy people thinking I've embraced rock 'n' roll because it encompasses all the things I'm interested in: poetry, revolution, sexuality, political activism - all of these things can be found in rock 'n' roll. But I am also engaged in all of these things separately. Patti Smith rocks revolution political I really feel concerned about young people within our present culture. Our present culture, we have to change. Change is inevitable and I wasn't raised in our present culture but it has great pressure that as a young person I never had. Material pressure, social pressure, visual pressure, how you look, and I just try to appeal to young people to think for themselves, to be their own person, and to ask questions and also be very attentive to our planet and our environment. Patti Smith trying people thinking I use drugs to work. I never use them to escape or for pleasure. When you turn to drugs, all you're doing is turning inside, anyway. I only use drugs for construction. It's like one of my architectural tools. Patti Smith drug tools use As much as I can, as much as I can afford, I keep ticket prices down. Rock 'n' roll was developed as the people's voice, the people's art, it was grassroots. I don't believe that the people should be estranged from their rock stars. They're not kings and queens - all rock stars are those who are able to give back a bit of culture to other people. It's people's heritage. Patti Smith queens kings art Light inspires me. I'm drawn to architecture, often graves, statues, trees - things usually that are quite still. I've been taking pictures continuously since 1995 until the end of Polaroid film. I'm taking very few pictures nowadays because I have very little film left, most of it expired. Patti Smith light tree inspire People were crying on the street, you could hear his voice coming out of cafes. Everyone was playing his music. ... Thank you, Lou, for brutally and benevolently injecting poetry into your music. Patti Smith entertainment You can't change the world; you can't fix the whole environment. But you can recycle. You can turn the water off when you're brushing your teeth. You can do small things. Patti Smith you small-things change water If you feel good about who you are inside, it will radiate. Patti Smith feel good you feel-good Everyone has a creative impulse, and has the right to create, and should. Patti Smith right everyone create creative If I've learned one thing in life, it's not to be so judgmental of other people. Patti Smith judgmental one-thing life people I come from a working-class family, and I've been working since I was 13, from babysitting to blueberry picking to factory work to bookstore work. And of course, being a mother and homemaker, the hardest work of all. Patti Smith being family mother work
