And while admitting the time is right to take his leave from the playing arena Paterson won't be saying goodbye to the Edinburgh faithful for too long.
The 34-year-old has been taken on in a non-playing role by the club, the details of which are not yet available.
"I have always said I wanted to go out playing as well as I can," Paterson told the Daily Record. "Now I am ready to move on, I have an exciting future ahead within Scottish rugby
"I am just delighted to focus on this weekend's game. It will be tinged with sadness because I love playing rugby.
"But the main feeling is happiness because I have achieved more than I thought I would. I've had such a great time - 14 years of love for my job.
"It takes a lot of time to make a decision such as this but I'm comfortable with it. Since my international retirement my body has been sore, I have taken a few knocks and have not had a sustained period of training.
"That has meant I haven't been playing much - my body has been telling me 'enough is enough'."
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