John Lennon

It was like being in the eye of a hurricane. Youd wake up in a concert and think Wow how did I get here

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.

You have to be a bastard to make it, and that's a fact. And the Beatles are the biggest bastards on earth.

I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity.

Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.

It doesn't matter how long my hair is or what colour my skin is or whether I'm a woman or a man.

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.

If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.

If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.

It's weird not to be weird.

We were all on this ship in the sixties, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World. And the Beatles were in the crow's nest of that ship.

Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun.

Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one.

We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it.

Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.

I don't believe in killing whatever the reason!

All you need is love.

I'm not claiming divinity. I've never claimed purity of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can... But I still believe in peace, love and understanding.

Possession isn't nine-tenths of the law. It's nine-tenths of the problem.

Paranoia is just a heightened sense of awareness.

Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it.

Happiness is inside you, not with another person.

The more I see the less I know for sure.

If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal.

Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry.

Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you've got to let it grow.

Its weird not to be weird.

Pain is what were in most of the time. And I think the bigger the pain the more gods we need.

Peace and love are eternal.

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.

Part of me suspects that I'm a loser, and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty.

I believe time wounds all heels.

If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set then there would be peace.

Everything is clearer when you're in love.

Part of me suspects that I’m a loser, and the other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty.

Guilt for being rich, and guilt thinking that perhaps love and peace isn't enough and you have to go and get shot or something.

God is a concept by which we measure our pain.

If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it.

And God help Bruce Springsteen when they decide he's no longer God... They'll turn on him, and I hope he survives it.

If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that I believe in what I do, and I'll say it.

You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.

When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.

It’s weird not to be weird.

The pressures of being a parent are equal to any pressure on earth. To be a conscious parent, and really look to that little being's mental and physical health, is a responsibility which most of us, including me, avoid most of the time because it's too hard.

Rituals are important. Nowadays it's hip not to be married. I'm not interested in being hip.

When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream.

If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'.

Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery in my mind wasn't insanity. Surrealism to me is reality.

I'm not afraid of death because I don't believe in it. It's just getting out of one car, and into another.

The postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you.

As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot.

These critics with the illusions they've created about artists - it's like idol worship. They only like people when they're on their way up... I cannot be on the way up again.

One thing you can't hide - is when you're crippled inside.

You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!

There's nothing you can know that isn't known.

He didn't come out of my belly, but my God, I've made his bones, because I've attended to every meal, and how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish because I took him to the ocean. I'm so proud of all those things. But he is my biggest pride.

It doesnt matter how long my hair is or what colour my skin is or whether Im a woman or a man.

There's nowhere you could be that isn't where you're meant to be.

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one.

Count your age by friends not years. Count your life by smiles not tears.

What we've got to do is keep hope alive. Because without it we'll sink.

You either get tired fighting for peace or you die.

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock and roll or Christianity.

Love is a promise; love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear.

My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.

All we are saying is give peace a chance.

If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that… I believe in what I do, and I’ll say it.

You dont need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are

The cross of the Legion of Honor has been conferred on me. However, few escape that distinction.

Love is the flower you've got to let grow.

A Conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words.

All you need is pancakes. Pancakes are all you need.

I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?

I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I'm one of those people.

The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that's making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?

If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the 60s thats his problem. Love and peace are eternal.

Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.

Nowadays its hip not to be married. Im not interested in being hip.

We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity.

One thing you cant hide is when youre crippled inside.

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.

Life is what happens when you are making other plans.

You're just left with yourself all the time, whatever you do anyway. You've got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It's all down to you, mate.

Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground.

I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong.

The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

It was like being in the eye of a hurricane. You'd wake up in a concert and think, Wow, how did I get here?

If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliche that must have been left behind in the 60s, that's a problem. Peace and love are eternal.