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Quote by Patti Smith

“You can't make a mistake when you improvise.”

Quote by Patti Smith

Work

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Patti Smith recounts her early life and friendship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe, offering a vivid portrayal of the bohemian art scene in New York during that era. more

Author

Patti Smith is an influential American singer-songwriter, born on December 30, 1946. Known for her unique musical style and poetic lyrics, she is considered one of the pioneers of post-punk and punk rock. Smith's music career began in the 1970s, and she quickly became a star in the underground music scene. Her debut album 'Horses' was released in 1975 and is considered a landmark in punk rock. more

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“New York is the thing that seduced me. New York is the thing that formed me. New York is the thing that deformed me. New York is the thing that perverted me. New York is the thing that converted me. And New York is the thing that I love too.”

Author:Patti Smith

“New York has closed itself off to the young and the struggling. But there are other cities. Detroit. Poughkeepsie. New York City has been taken away from you. So my advice is: Find a new city.”

Has Beens Young Cities Struggle Taken Advice New York New York City Detroit Away From You

Author:Patti Smith

“Eyeing the traffic circulating the lobby hung with bad art. Big invasive stuff unloaded on Stanley Bard in exchange for rent. The hotel is an energetic, desperate haven for scores of gifted hustling children from every rung of the ladder. Guitar bums and stoned-out beauties in Victorian dresses. Junkie poets, playwrights, broke-down filmmakers, and French actors. Everybody passing through here is somebody, if not in the outside world.”

“Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises, don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned about doing good work. Protect your work and if you build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency. Life is like a roller coaster ride, it is never going to be perfect. It is going to have perfect moments and rough spots, but it’s all worth it.”

“Toyland, toyland . . . once you pass its portals you may never return again.”

May Return Portal

Author:Patti Smith

“Christianity made us think there's one heaven.”

Thinking Made Heaven Christianity Good Christian

Author:Patti Smith

“Remember, we are mortal, but poetry is not.”

Remember Mortals Poetry Is

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“We needed time to figure out what all of this meant, how we were going to come to terms and redefine what our love was called. I learned from him that often contradiction is the clearest way to truth.”

Way Term Figures Needed Contradiction Our Love

Book:Just Kids

Source: Just Kids

“To be an artist — actually, to be a human being in these times — it’s all difficult. … What matters is to know what you want and pursue it.”

Knows Want Humans Matter Artist Difficult Human Beings What You Want Pursue What Matters

Author:Patti Smith

“Lets just say that I think any person who aspires, presumes, or feels the calling to be an artist has a built-in sense of duty.”

Thinking Feels Persons Artist Duty Calling Built Aspire

Author:Patti Smith