Patti Smith
I imagined myself as Frida to Diego, both muse and maker. I dreamed of meeting an artist to love and support and work with side by side.Collection: Artist
The sea is greater than us - it has its rhythm, its art. It comes with our earliest memory, of respiration, breathing in and out.Collection: Art
I immersed myself in books and rock 'n' roll, the adolescent salvation.Collection: Book
If the postman is saying hello to you, then I feel like, wow, thats something special.Collection: Special
I wasn't writing, I wasn't drawing, and personality-wise, I was just completely arrogant. I'm not trying to be overly apologetic for my behavior - I wasn't evil. The lifestyle I had was one that lent itself to becoming more and more self-involved.Collection: Wise
I got over the loss of his desk and chair, but never the desire to produce a string of words more precious than the emeralds of Cortés.Collection: Loss
I'd never had people drive me around, and then all of a sudden, if a car didn't come, I'd say, "Where's my car?"Collection: People
Toyland, toyland . . . once you pass its portals you may never return again.Collection: May
Will you pretend you're my boyfriend?Collection: My Boyfriend
Social media could be very strong in terms of bringing people together but it also takes up so much of people's time that I wonder if we've lost the ability to daydream.Collection: Strong
No one knows how powerful technology is.Collection: Powerful
I find it painful when I'm without anything. But I work in multiple fields. If I can't write, I find myself taking photographs. I can go on the road and perform. But the most important thing for me is writing, and when I hit those walls, it's painful.Collection: Wall
I think masturbating is a really important function in art. People don't like to hear that kind of stuff, but it's true.Collection: Art
New generations have unprecedented power to make great changes. Take the music business for example. The new generations have toppled the music industry by file sharing, downloading, and Myspace. Rock 'n' roll belongs to the people.Collection: Rocks
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.Collection: Thinking
Vowels are the most illuminated letters in the alphabet. Vowels are the colors and souls of poetry and speech. (1976 Penthouse interview)Collection: Color
I knew if I lived long enough I would be poet laureate of something.Collection: Long
I hated the soup and felt little for the can.Collection: Soup
I'm not really a musician. I'm a performer and I love rock 'n' roll.Collection: Rocks
I don't wear makeup. I can't stand nothin' on my face. It's a phobia. It's not a platform.Collection: Makeup
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 communicate with everybody; I'd like to do something universal, I'd like to have the hit record of the world. But that's not the same as being equal.Collection: Thinking
We never had any children," he said ruefully. "Our work was our children.Collection: Children
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.Collection: Drug
When I was a kid, I loved Sherlock Holmes. I'm not interested in crimes. I'm interested in the mind of the detective and his process, which to me is a lot like the artist.Collection: Kids
I always hesitate when people call me a musician.I have had no musical training. I can't play anything. I really think of myself as a performer. It's always been writing for me. I evolved with my band in rock 'n' roll through poetry, not through music.Collection: Writing
More than anything that's been the thread through my life - the desire to write, the impulse to write. I mean, it's taken me other places, but it was the impulse to write that led me to singing.Collection: Taken
Spare the child and spoil the rod, I am not sellin' myself to god.Collection: Children
I wanted to see who this Yeats person was, and I said to my mother, 'I want a book by this person.' And she bought it for me, and a lot of it was over my head, but I had it.Collection: Mother
Just because I've extricated myself from religion doesn't mean I'm not interested in the scriptures. I look at the Bible as itself. It's a holy book, it has incredible literature in it and beautiful poetry.Collection: Beautiful
I studied the Bible seriously until I was young teenager. It was always part of our home education: talking about the Bible, arguing about the Bible, interpreting it. So I don't connect prayer or scriptures with any particular religion so it's not a contradiction in my life.Collection: Prayer
I don’t think the average American understands what patriotism truthfully is. That’s why when I attack our country or attack the government, it’s sometimes looked at as unpatriotic. It’s not.Collection: Country
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.Collection: Reading
Technology is 50% of rock ‘n’ roll – the magic, the art, the performance. If you don’t have good technicians and a strong road crew who are devoted and believe in you and protect you, you’re totally naked.Collection: Strong
I’ve said this over and over, but I’ll say it a million more times – I’m concerned more about the death of a bee than I am about terrorism. Because we’re losing hives and bees by the millions because of such strong pesticides.Collection: Strong
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.Collection: Firsts
I know I’m a strong performer. I’m not an evolved musician.Collection: Strong