Some of us are born rebellious. Like Jean Genet or Arthur Rimbaud, I roam these mean streets like a villain, a vagabond, an outcast, scavenging for the scraps that may perchance plummet off humanity's dirty plates, though often sometimes taking a cab to a restaurant is more convenient.
— Patti Smith
I'm a worker. I do the work to communicate, and I want people to embrace it, and when they do I'm happy.
Good news doesn't necessarily have to be a positive thing. Bringing good news is imparting hope to one's fellow man.
We tried not to age, but time had its rage.
I want to be around a really long time. I want to be a thorn in the side of everything as long as possible.
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.
I'm an intuitive musician. I have no real technical skills. I can only play six chords on the guitar.
I came into music because I thought the presentation of poetry wasn't vibrant enough. So I merged improvised poetry with basic rock chords. That was my original mission.
I don't think the area of Jerusalem should be part of a Jewish state; it belongs to all people, to Christians and Muslims and the Jewish people.
I loved books; I read my childhood away. I was more interested in my interior world.
A lot of children don't have a developed aesthetic. I did. I made early choices in life, even about cloth; I liked flannel and not polyester.
I've written a lot of prose. I just haven't published it.
I had to learn, really, how to rein in my energies and discipline myself. And I found it very very useful. I rebelled against it at first, but it's a good thing to have.
Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine.
Never let go of that fiery sadness called desire.
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.
Somehow I started introducing writing into my drawings, and after a time, the language took over and I started getting very involved with the handwriting and then the look of the handwriting.
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.
People called me the godmother of punk, but I never name myself anything.
I've always believed in having a sense of balance and stealth.
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.
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.
I am not really certain how original my contribution to music is as I am obviously an amateur.
I'm not saying I wasn't flawed or amateurish. But you can never say I did anything to appease the music business.
My mom loved rock 'n roll. My father hated it. We couldn't play it when he was around.
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.
The issue of gender was never my biggest concern; my biggest concern was doing good work. When the feminist movement really got going, I wasn't an active part of it because I was more concerned with my own mental pursuits.
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.
I wanted to go to Portland because it's a really good book town.
All I've ever wanted, since I was a child, was to do something wonderful.
Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand.
People have the power to redeem the work of fools.
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.
No, my work does not reflect my sexual preferences, it reflects the fact that I feel total freedom as an artist.
As an artist, I used to think that my responsibility was to do good work. But I had to learn from the '70s on that being a public figure presents another aspect of responsibility.
The idea of redemption is always good news, even if it means sacrifice or some difficult times.
A lot of my audience are in their 50s. But they want me to pretend to continue to be pretending.
C'mon, I mean who didn't listen to 'The Who' in the 60s?
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.
I know I'm a strong performer. I'm not an evolved musician.
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.
Usually when I go to a place for the first time, unless there's something historical or spectacular that nature has to offer, the first thing I like to do is see what's on the minds of the people.
What I say should always be prefaced with this: I'm not really politically articulate. I just try to be like Thomas Paine: what is common sense? So when I say these things to you, I am speaking from a humanist point of view. I just look around and see what's wrong.
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.
When I stopped performing for 16 years and lived in Michigan and was married and raising my children, I wrote about four or five books. I haven't published them. I just haven't gotten around to it for several reasons.
I wrote every day. I don't think I could have written 'Just Kids' had I not spent all of the 80s developing my craft as a writer.
I dreamed of having a book of my own, of writing one that I could put on a shelf.
As far as I'm concerned, being any gender is a drag.
Rock n' roll is dream soup, what's your brand?
The new artists coming through were very materialistic and Hollywood, not so engaged in communication.
