Aside from creating an extraordinary amount of iconic songs, John Lennon was also capable of inspiring and entertaining millions with a single spoken sentence.
He was sometimes profound, sometimes silly; sometimes eloquent, sometimes monosyllabic – when asked what impressed him most about America, the man responsible for some of the most beautiful lyrics ever written stated, “Bread.”
In case you don’t quite believe us, then we’ve assembled 30 of his greatest quotes to improve your day and get your mind working...
“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
“I don’t know which will go first - rock ’n’ roll or Christianity.”
“Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.”
“Everybody loves you when you’re six foot in the ground.”
“If there’s such a thing as genius — I am one. And if there isn’t, I don’t care.”
“As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot.”
“You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!”
“Before Elvis there was nothing.”
“Everything is clearer when you’re in love.”
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”
“Everything is as important as everything else.”
“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”
“You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.”
“I don’t believe in killing whatever the reason!”
“We all have Hitler in us, but we also have love and peace. So why not give peace a chance for once?”
“Happiness is just how you feel when you don’t feel miserable.”
“Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.”
“You have to be a bastard to make it, and that’s a fact.”
“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.”
“The more I see the less I know for sure.”
“God is a concept by which we measure our pain”
“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.”
“I don’t believe in yesterday, by the way.”
“What we’ve got to do is keep hope alive. Because without it we’ll sink.”
“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.”
“It’s better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out.”
“Art is only a way of expressing pain.”
“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.”
” I can’t wake you up. You can wake you up. I can’t cure you. You can cure you.”
“I believe in everything until it’s disproved.”