Remembering A Legacy That Urges Us to Imagine | 148 John Lennon Quotes
To reflect on John Lennon’s legacy on the 40th anniversary of his death is the least we could do as a tribute to this great rock artist. A prolific songwriter, a peace activist, and the founder and songwriter of the Beatles, John Lennon was a true voice of his generation. In a time when the West experienced anti-war movements, civil unrest and protests, he was the one to express that global demand for peace and unity through his work with the Beatles, but also through a personal music career that produced international top-10 singles “Imagine“, “Give Peace a Chance“, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and “Instant Karma!“.
It’s difficult to sum up the musical, social and political influence John Lennon had on the entire planet, but his words, either through song lyrics or via his own quotes, have proved to be so everlasting that have never stopped sounding relevant in these four decades that followed his assassination in Manhattan where the universal Brit had been living at the time. In 2020, John Lennon would have been 80 and the void is still palpable. His quotes still fill us with hope and urge us to imagine.
Table of Contents
- Short John Lennon Quotes
- Best John Lennon Quotes
- Timeless John Lennon’s Love Quotes
- Insgightful John Lennon’s Quotes About Life
- Important John Lennon’s Peace Quotes
- John Lennon Quotes On Images
Short John Lennon Quotes
- It doesn’t matter how long my hair is or what colour my skin is or whether I’m a woman or a man. John Lennon
- All you need is love. Love is all you need. John Lennon
- You’re all geniuses, and you’re all beautiful. You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are. You are what you are. John Lennon
- Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears. John Lennon
- 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. John Lennon
- Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end. John Lennon
- There’s an alternative to violence. It’s to stay in bed and grow your hair. John Lennon
- We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight. John Lennon
- A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. John Lennon
- I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together. John Lennon
- Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream. John Lennon
- You won’t get anything unless you have the vision to imagine it. John Lennon
- We all shine on…like the moon and the stars and the sun…we all shine on…come on and on and on… John Lennon
- Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted. John Lennon
- I don’t want to grow up but I’m sick of not growing up… I’ll find a different way of not growing up. John Lennon
- Everything is as important as everything else. John Lennon
- When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind. John Lennon
- There’s room at the top, they are telling you still. But first you must learn how to smile as you kill! John Lennon
- I can’t wake you up. You can wake you up. I can’t cure you. You can cure you. John Lennon
- A mistake is only an error, it becomes a mistake when you fail to correct it. John Lennon
- Only by trying on other people’s clothes do we find what size we are. John Lennon
- As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot. John Lennon
- Art is only a way of expressing pain. John Lennon
- The more real you get, the more unreal the world gets. John Lennon
- I once had a girl, or should I say she once had me. John Lennon
- Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting thorough my open mind possessing and caressing me. John Lennon
- We were just a band that made it very, very, big that’s all. Our best work was never recorded. John Lennon
- Possession isn’t nine-tenths of the law. It’s nine-tenths of the problem. John Lennon
- It’s weird not to be weird. John Lennon
- For those of you in the cheap seats I’d like ya to clap your hands to this one; the rest of you can just rattle your jewelry! John Lennon
- I am a violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. John Lennon
- Turn left at Greenland … John Lennon
- War is over … If you want it. John Lennon
- Millions of mind guerrillas
Putting their soul power to the karmic wheel. John Lennon - What we’ve got to do is keep hope alive. Because without it we’ll sink.
- John Lennon
- I used to think it was mere homesickness, then I started getting it at home. John Lennon
- I put things down on sheets of paper and stuff them in my pockets. When I have enough, I have a book. John Lennon
- Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
- John Lennon
- I get by with a little help from my friends. John Lennon
- Produce your own dream. John Lennon
- Avant-garde is French for bullshit. John Lennon
- Everything is clearer when you’re in love. John Lennon
- If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry’. John Lennon
- Everything is true and not true about everything. That’s one thing I’ve learned. John Lennon
- Happiness is just how you feel when you don’t feel miserable. John Lennon
- How can I go forward when I don’t know which way I’m facing? John Lennon
- Well, I don’t want to be king, I want to be real. John Lennon
- I am just some guy who did … whatever. Always see me as me. I was always me, all the way through it. John Lennon
- God is a concept by which we measure our pain. John Lennon
- Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones. John Lennon
- A working-class hero is something to be. John Lennon
- I could still be forgotten when I’m dead. I don’t really care what happens when I’m dead. John Lennon
- Creativity is a gift. It doesn’t come through if the air is cluttered. John Lennon
- Doing fine. Watching shadows on the wall. John Lennon
- Everybody loves you when you’re six foot in the ground. John Lennon
- I don’t believe in killing whatever the reason! John Lennon
- There are no problems, only solutions. John Lennon
- I don’t believe in yesterday, by the way. John Lennon
- The sun is up, the sky is blue. It’s beautiful, and so are you. John Lennon
- I’m not afraid of death because I don’t believe in it. It’s just getting out of one car, and into another. John Lennon
- You tell me it’s the institution.
Well, you know, you’d better free you mind instead. John Lennon - If there hadn’t been an Elvis, there wouldn’t have been the Beatles. John Lennon
- Part of me suspects that I’m a loser, and the other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty. John Lennon
- It’s better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out.
- John Lennon
- Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me. John Lennon
- A genius is a form of madness, and we’re all that way, you know. John Lennon
- There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known. John Lennon
- Let It Be. John Lennon
- You can manicure a cat but can you caticure a man? John Lennon
- Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it. John Lennon
- 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. John Lennon
- Nobody controls me. I’m uncontrollable. The only one who controls me is me, and that’s just barely possible. John Lennon
- There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be… John Lennon
- They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool. John Lennon
- Nothing is real. John Lennon
- And so this is Christmas…what have you done? John Lennon
- Paranoia is just a heightened sense of awareness. John Lennon
- One thing I can tell you is you have to be free. Come together, right now, over me. John Lennon
- Please don’t spoil my day; I’m miles away and, after all, I’m only sleeping. John Lennon
- Turn on the light. All the better to see you with, my dear. John Lennon
- One thing you can’t hide – is when you’re crippled inside. John Lennon
Best John Lennon Quotes
- Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace. John Lennon - They keep you doped with religion, and sex, and T.V.
And you think you’re so clever and classless and free
But you’re still f**** peasants as far as I can see. John Lennon - 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. John Lennon
- I’m cynical about society, politics, newspapers, government. But I’m not cynical about life, love, goodness, death. That’s why I really don’t want to be labeled a cynic. John Lennon
- 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. John Lennon
- It’s quite possible to do anything, but not if you put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don’t expect Carter or Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself. John Lennon
- The world is still spinning and so are we and so are you. When the spinning stops, that’ll be the time to worry. Not before. John Lennon
- As in a love affair, two creative people can destroy themselves trying to recapture that youthful spirit, at twenty-one or twenty-four, of creating without even being aware of how it’s happening. John Lennon
- My defenses were so great. The cocky rock and roll hero who knows all the answers was actually a terrified guy who didn’t know how to cry. Simple. John Lennon
- The postman wants an autograph. The cab driver wants a picture. The waitress wants a handshake. Everyone wants a piece of you. John Lennon
- You can’t just keep quiet about anything that’s going on in the world unless you’re a monk. Sorry, monks! John Lennon
- Look at me
Who am I supposed to be?
Look at me
What am I supposed to be?
Look at me
Oh my love. John Lennon - People are just uptight because the kids are having fun. They didn’t have the same freedom because they didn’t take it; they just followed the lives laid down by their parents. And they’re jealous of the people who didn’t do that. John Lennon
- If everyone could just be happy with themselves and the choices people around them make, the world would instantly be a better place! John Lennon
- Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are great examples of fantastic nonviolents who died violently. I can never work that out. We’re pacifists, but I’m not sure what it means when you’re such a pacifist that you get shot. I can never understand that. John Lennon
- The thing the ‘60s 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. John Lennon
- All music is rehash. There are only a few notes. Just variations on a theme. Try to tell the kids in the Seventies who were screaming to the Bee Gees that their music was just The Beatles redone. There is nothing wrong with the Bee Gees. John Lennon
- … you gotta pull a group together, invent a group. And then you gotta whip them into life, make them a real group, and not a bunch of guys. Then you gotta go around all those snotty little dressing rooms — and all you get is money. That’s all you get from a tour: cash. John Lennon
- Everybody seems to think I’m lazy
I don’t mind, I think they’re crazy.
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there’s no need. John Lennon - 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? John Lennon
- When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor. John Lennon
- Carrying the Beatles or the ‘60s dream around all your life is like carrying the Second World War and Glenn Miller around. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy Glenn Miller or the Beatles, but to live in that dream is the twilight zone. It’s not living now. It’s an illusion. John Lennon
- Trying to please everybody is impossible – if you did that, you’d end up in the middle with nobody liking you. You’ve just got to make the decision about what you think is your best, and do it. John Lennon
- 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. John Lennon
- Sometimes you wonder, I mean really wonder. I know we make our own reality, and we always have a choice, but how much is preordained? Is there always a fork in the road, and are there two preordained paths that are equally preordained? There could be hundreds of paths where one could go this way or that way — there’s a chance, and it’s very strange sometimes. John Lennon
- That’s part of our policy, is not to be taken seriously, because I think our opposition, whoever they may be, in all their manifest forms, don’t know how to handle humor. You know, and we are humorous, we are, what are they, Laurel and Hardy. That’s John and Yoko, and we stand a better chance under that guise, because all the serious people, like Martin Luther King, and Kennedy, and Gandhi, got shot. John Lennon
- It seems to me that the only true Christians were the Gnostics, who believe in self-knowledge, i.e. becoming Christ themselves, reaching the Christ within, the light is the truth. John Lennon
Timeless John Lennon’s Love Quotes
- Love is the greatest refreshment in life. John Lennon
- That love is all, that love is everyone. John Lennon
- Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear. John Lennon
- Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you’ve got to let it grow. John Lennon
- It doesn’t matter who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it only matters that you love! John Lennon
- 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 on watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it. John Lennon
- We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. John Lennon
- Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns it calls me on and on across the universe. John Lennon
- When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. John Lennon
- I was feeling insecure you might not love me anymore. John Lennon
- You know the way people begin to look like their dogs? Well, we’re beginning to look like each other. John Lennon
- I was asked in an interview which was more important: money or love? I told the interviewer that if he had to ask the question, he wouldn’t understand the answer. John Lennon
- But I can be alone without Yoko, but I just have no wish to be. There’s no reason on earth why I should be alone without Yoko. There’s nothing more important than our relationship, nothing. And we dig being together all the time. Both of us could survive apart but what for? John Lennon
- I’m not going to sacrifice love, real love for any whore or any friend or any business. John Lennon
- When I hold you in my arms and I feel my finger on your trigger I know no one can do me no harm because happiness is a warm gun. John Lennon
- Jealousy can wreck a marriage, try getting to know the postman. John Lennon
- Nobody loves you when you’re down and out. John Lennon
Insgightful John Lennon’s Quotes About Life
- Life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting my friends. John Lennon
- When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. John Lennon
- There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. John Lennon
- We were born as whole … we grow through life by ourselves. If we have a good company, it’s just more pleasant. John Lennon
- Life is what is happening today while you were planning tomorrow. John Lennon
- Rituals are important. Nowadays it’s hip not to be married. I’m not interested in being hip. John Lennon
- I never went to high school reunions. My thing is, out of sight, out of mind. That’s my attitude toward life. So, I don’t have any romanticism about any part of my past. John Lennon
- 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. John Lennon
- Living is easy with eyes closed. John Lennon
- Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life. John Lennon
- 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? John Lennon
- I don’t live it down. I’ve lived it down, played it both ways. Especially when you first get money — you live it up … There is nothing else to do once you do it. I just live however makes me most comfortable. John Lennon
Important John Lennon’s Peace Quotes
- We all have Hitler in us, but we also have love and peace. So why not give peace a chance for once? John Lennon
- Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away. John Lennon
- Declare it. Just the same way we declare war. That is how we will have peace… we just need to declare it. John Lennon
- You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die. John Lennon
- 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. John Lennon
- If you want peace, you won’t get it with violence. John Lennon
- If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace. John Lennon
- Get out there and get peace, think peace, and live peace and breathe peace, and you’ll get it as soon as you like. John Lennon
- We ‘re all one. Give peace a chance, not Shoot people for peace.
John Lennon Quotes On Images
You May Also Like:
74 Undeniably Fab Quotes and Lyrics by the Beatles
60 Powerful Led Zeppelin Quotes About Love, Life And Death
28 Kurt Cobain Quotes and Song Lyrics by Nirvana
52 Jim Morrison Quotes About Life, Love and Death
One Love | 99 Famous Bob Marley Quotes
64 Pink Floyd Quotes About the Space Between Us