John Lennon was one of the founders of the rock band The Beatles and one of the most celebrated musicians of recent times. A selection of his most iconic quotes and reflections.
- We recommend you read: “The 75 most famous phrases about Peace”
Iconic quotes and reflections from John Lennon
In this article you will find the best phrases of John Lennon on various topics of the world and life in general that will make us meditate.
1. Declaring it. In the same way that we declare war. This is how we will have peace… We just need to declare it.
Peace is extremely important and that is why it must be announced constantly.
2. My name is not Beatle John. It’s John Lennon.
Trying to clarify that it was more than the band.
3. I can’t believe I get decorated, I thought it was necessary to drive tanks and win wars.
Heroes have many faces.
4. I will not change my appearance or how I feel to fit anything.
Every person has to be authentic, not a copy of someone.
5. Some are willing to do anything but live here and now.
Everyone is given importance, except to live every day.
6. If everyone demanded peace instead of another television, there would be peace.
If everything were devoted to making peace known, then the world would be different.
7. My role in society or that of any artist or poet is to try and express what we feel. Not telling people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of all of us.
Through the arts, what is felt is expressed.
8. When I can’t sing what my heart says, the only thing I can do is say what I think.
We must always transmit what we feel and think.
9. Everything is clearer when you are in love.
Being in love makes things look different.
10. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open ourselves to our ability to love others and our potential to create.
The first love that must exist is love for ourselves.
11. Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.
Life is very short, so don’t waste it on useless things.
12. Peace is not something you wish for, it is something you create, something you do, something you are and something you give away.
Being a peacemaker is something that brings its reward.
13. Go out and get peace, think peace, live peace and breathe peace and you will have it as soon as you want.
If we have harmony as a flag, everything will turn out well.
14. God is a concept by which we measure our pain.
We always turn to God in difficult times.
15. Count your age by friends, not years. Tell your life with smiles, not tears.
What is truly important in life are friends and a beautiful smile.
16. 1+1=John+Yoko. Simple math.
Demonstrating his love for Yoko.
17. I’ve always been a weirdo. So I’ve been a phenomenon my whole life and I have to live with that, you know. I’m one of those people.
Not all people are the same.
18. A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream with someone it’s a reality.
Include that special person in your dreams and you will see that it comes true.
19. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I replied: “happy”. They told me that I did not understand the question, and I answered that they did not understand life.
What really matters in life is to be happy, so bet on it.
20. We were made to believe that each of us is half an orange, and that life only makes sense when we find the other half. They did not tell us that we are already born whole, that no one in our lives deserves to carry on our backs the responsibility of completing what we lack.
Each person is responsible for his life and his happiness.
21. When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody notices, don’t be sad. Sunrise is a beautiful sight, and yet most of the audience is still asleep.
When you do charity work, don’t think about a reward, life will take care of that.
22. We live in a world where we hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight.
Love is shameful for many, while violence is common.
23. Living is easy with your eyes closed.
Life brings obstacles that must be overcome, so never give up.
24. Count your age by friends, not years. Tell your life with smiles, not tears.
True friends are hard to find.
25. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open ourselves to our ability to love others and our potential to create.
Each person has their role in society.
26. Being honest may not get you a ton of friends, but it always gets you the right ones.
Honesty attracts honesty.
27. One thing I can tell you is that you must be free.
Freedom from every point of view is something that all people should have.
28. Imagine everyone living in peace. You may say that I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one.
Lennon’s dream was always to achieve peace.
29. I never claimed to be a revolutionary. But I allow myself to sing about whatever I want.
Being a revolutionary is doing what we want without harming others.
30. When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life.
If you want to be someone successful, just look for happiness.
31. The best thing is to be a mirror, because I believe that we are all one and that the world could see itself reflected in me.
We are the reflection of what we do, feel, think and say.
32. I can’t wake you up. You can wake up. I can’t heal you. You can heal yourself.
Each person has the ability and power to live their life.
33. I believe in God, but not as a thing, not as an old man in the sky.
We all have a different vision of God and the way we believe in him.
34. Music is a possession of everyone. It’s the advertisers who think people own it.
Music is a universal art.
35. There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we turn away from life.
Fear is a force that sometimes drives, but also paralyzes.
36. Religion is just a way to get a tithe from the ignorant, there is only one God, and he does not get rich like the charlatan priests.
Religion is a cult that does not necessarily have God present.
37. Love is the flower that you have to let grow.
Love must be cultivated every day.
38. Either you get tired fighting for peace or you die.
You always have to bet on peace, it is what is truly important.
39. As usual, behind every idiot there is a great woman.
The female figure is fundamental in the life of a man.
40. Each person is the reflection of the music they listen to.
Music plays a fundamental role in society.
41. I believe in everything until it is refuted. So I believe in fairies, myths, dragons.
Everyone has the freedom to believe in what they want.
42. What really matters in life are friends and experiences, not how many years we have.
Life is fleeting, that’s why you have to live it with friends and enjoy the simple things it provides us.
43. When you’re drowning you don’t say “I’d be incredibly grateful if someone had the precaution to realize that I’m sinking and come help me”, you just scream.
In difficult situations you just have to ask for help.
44. Reality leaves much to the imagination.
Imagination and reality combine perfectly.
45. Being rich doesn’t change your life experiences. The only difference, basically, is that you don’t have to worry about money, food, having a roof over your head, etc. But all other experiences, emotions, relationships are the same. I know: I was rich and poor and so was Yoko.
Being rich is not about money, but about how we see life and what we learn from it.
46. 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.
Love is the most important feeling that every human being must cultivate.
47. Everything will be alright in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.
Everything has a solution.
48. It doesn’t matter if you hide behind a smile and wear nice clothes, if you can’t hide something, it’s how rotten you are inside.
How you are inside is what you are going to transmit.
49. All we say is give peace a chance.
If peace is present, everything will be fine.
50. You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!
Do not let anyone define your personality, you are important.
51. Yoko inspires all this creation in me. Not that she inspires me the songs. She inspires me.
Having a person who motivates us allows us to be better.
52. Everything exists, even if it is in your mind. Who is to say that dreams and nightmares are not as real as the here and now?
Anything you believe in can come true whether it’s good or bad.
53. We appreciate each day and we are also afraid of it. It could be the last day.
You have to live each day as if it were the last.
54. It’s weird not being weird.
We all have a different personality, which makes us unique.
55. I believe that what people call God is something that is in all of us.
God is not a being in heaven, He lives in your heart.
56. Love is a promise, love is a memory, once given it is never forgotten, never let it disappear.
Love is a beautiful thing, never let it die.
57. I have to follow my heart wherever it leads me.
Intuition is something to pay attention to.
58. A conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words.
Silence is a powerful enemy.
59. If everyone could be happy with themselves and with the decisions that the people around them make, the world would instantly be a better place.
The world would be different if we all respected each other.
60. Love is wanting to be loved. Love is asking to be loved. Love is needing to be loved.
We all need to feel loved.
61. You don’t need a sword to cut flowers.
Everything is achieved with patience, perseverance and love.
62. It doesn’t matter how long my hair is or the color of my skin or if I am male or female.
Differences make us unique.
63. Everything is as important as everything else.
In life, everything has its importance.
64. I started the band. I dissolved it. It’s that simple.
Taking responsibility for your actions.
65. People grow through people. If we are in good company it is more enjoyable.
Each person has something to teach us and in turn, that they learn from us.
66. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are great examples of nonviolent beings who died violently. That can never work.
Violence has several points of view.
67. I believe that Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and what everyone else said is true. Simply the translations have been incorrect.
It is not what is said, but how it is interpreted.
68. I am not afraid of death because I do not believe in it. It’s just getting out in one car and getting into another car.
John Lennon viewed death in a very unique way.
69. You have to accept the unknown, lose your fear, and the rest is simple.
When fear is present nothing is achieved.
70. Time heals all wounds.
Time is the best teacher.
71. What we have to do is keep hope alive, because without it we will sink.
Never lose hope, hold on to it.
72. You have to be a bastard to do it and that’s a fact. And the Beatles are the biggest bastards on earth.
The success of the Beatles is indisputable.
73. The more I see, the less I know, for sure.
We do not always know everything, every day we learn a little more.
74. We all have a Hitler within us, but we also have love and peace. So why not give peace a chance for once?
You are responsible for letting out the evil or the good that is inside you.
75. My life with The Beatles had become a trap, a continuous tape…
All changes are good.
76. Everyone loves you when you are six feet on the ground.
True love is the one that accompanies us in happy moments, but also in those not so good ones.
77. The time you enjoyed wasting was not wasted.
There is a time to do nothing, enjoy it.
78. We’re a pacifist, but I’m not sure what it means when you’re a pacifist and get shot. I can’t understand that.
Peace also brings violence.
79. Protest without violence, because violence begets violence.
There are several ways to claim your rights without the need to carry out violence.
80. You are alone with yourself all the time, with whatever you do. You have to bring down your own God in your own temple. It all depends on you, mate.
Being alone with oneself helps us to better understand life.
81. When feelings are finally expressed they make you cry, it’s just that.
It is good medicine to let out what we carry inside.
82. Our society is run by crazy people with crazy goals. I think we’re driven by maniacs for maniacal ends, and I think I’m liable to be taken insane for expressing that. That’s what madness is about.
We all have some madness inside us.
83. The best things usually come out on impulse. Or inspiration. And I barely have to think about it.
When we least expect it, inspiration makes us do wonderful things.
84. It is impossible to hide love in the eyes of those who love.
The eyes are the mirror of the soul.
85. I was not going to sacrifice true love for any friend or business, because in the end you stay alone at night and neither of you wanted to be.
It is important to determine what is the most significant thing in our life to keep.
86. The war is over… if you want it that way.
Wars end with just one step.
87. When I finally had the guts to tell the other three that, in quotes, I wanted a divorce, they understood that I meant it; unlike Ringo and George’s earlier threats to leave.
When you make a decision, you have to stick with it.
88. There is an alternative to war. It’s staying in bed and growing your hair.
Avoid at all times giving space to war.
89. We all shine, like the moon, the stars, and the sun.
Every person has their own light to shine.
90. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections.
We must accept ourselves as we are.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.