JOHN LENNON QUOTES
British singer/songwriter (1940-1980)
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
JOHN LENNON
"Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)"
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
attributed, How to Be Happy
I was stuck in the feeling that one did not--was not justified in being alive unless one was fulfilling other people's dreams, whether they were contractual dreams or the public's dreams, or fulfilling my own dreams and illusions about what I thought I was supposed to be, which, in retrospect, turned out to not be what I am.
JOHN LENNON
All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
JOHN LENNON
attributed, Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun, January 13, 2003
We are all water from
different rivers
That's why it's so easy to to meet
We are all water in this vast,
vast ocean
Someday we'll evaporate
together.
JOHN LENNON
"We Are All Water"
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
attributed, Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History
When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind.
JOHN LENNON
"Julia"
We're trying to sell peace, like a product, you know, and sell it like people sell soap or soft drinks. And it's the only way to get people aware that peace is possible, and it isn't just inevitable to have violence. Not just war -- all forms of violence. People just accept it ... [but] We're all responsible for everything that goes on, you know, we're all responsible for Biafra and Hitler and everything. So we're just saying "SELL PEACE" -- anybody interested in peace just stick it in the window. It's simple but it lets somebody else know that you want peace too, because you feel alone if you're the only one thinking "wouldn't it be nice if there was peace and nobody was getting killed." So advertise yourself that you're for peace if you believe in it.
JOHN LENNON
interview, The David Frost Show, June 14, 1969
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
JOHN LENNON
"Imagine"
When I was about twelve, I used to think I must be a genius, but nobody's noticed. Either I'm a genius or I'm mad, which is it? "No," I said, "I can't be mad because nobody's put me away; therefore I'm a genius." Genius is a form of madness and we're all that way. But I used to be coy about it, like me guitar playing. But if there's such a thing as genius -- I am one. And if there isn't, I don't care.
JOHN LENNON
interview, Rolling Stone, December 1970
Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles.
JOHN LENNON
attributed, The Beatles: The Authorized Biography
When you're in love, when somebody says something like, "How can you be with that woman?" you say, "What do you mean? I am with this goddess of love, the fulfillment of my whole life. Why are you saying this? Why do you want to throw a rock at her or punish me for being in love with her?"
JOHN LENNON
interview, Playboy, January 1981
Well, we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah, we all shine on
C'mon and on and on, on, on
JOHN LENNON
"Instant Karma"
We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant.... You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it.
JOHN LENNON
ATV interview, December 2, 1969
Sanity, sanity
Why don't you let me go?
Let go, let go
Cut it out
JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO
"O'Sanity"
I've always thought there was this underlying thing in Paul's "Get Back." When we were in the studio recording it, every time he sang the line "Get back to where you once belonged," he'd look at Yoko.
JOHN LENNON
interview, Playboy, January 1981
If everyone demanded peace instead of another TV set, we'd have peace.
JOHN LENNON
statement during the Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, Canada, June 1, 1969
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.
JOHN LENNON
statement to reporters at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, August 11, 1966
I wouldn't say I was a born writer; I'm a born thinker.
JOHN LENNON
The Beatles Anthology
You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will be as one.
JOHN LENNON
"Imagine"