John Lennon: Trending quotes (page 4)

“She forced me to become avant-garde and take my clothes off, when all I wanted was to be Tom Jones.”

John Lennon

Source: The Beatles Anthology (2000), p. 300

Clothes

“The celebrated Mr. K.
Performs his feat on Saturday at Bishops Gate
The Hendersons will dance and sing
As Mr. Kite flies through the ring don't be late
Messrs. K and H. assure the public
Their production will be second to none
And of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz!”

John Lennon

"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" (1967)
Lyrics

Singing , Horse , Dance

“"One cave she wolf go too farther, and I wolf leaf her" he said to his fave rave horse. Of course the horse didn't answer, because as you know they cannot speak, least of all to a garlic eating, stinking, little yellow greasy fascist bastard catholic Spaniard. They soon made it up howevans and Jesus and wee Spastic were once morphia unitely in a love that knew no Suzie. The only thing that puzzled Jesus was why his sugarboot got so annoyed when he called her his little Spastic in public.”

John Lennon book A Spaniard in the Works

"A Spaniard In The Works" from A Spaniard In The Works (1965); this has sometimes been misquoted as if Lennon were speaking specifically about Jesus Christ, when in fact, it is part of the odd narration of an odd story with elements of satire, about a Spanish groom named "Jesus El Pifico".

Love , Wolf , Horse

“I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain's involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against "Cold Turkey" slipping down the charts.”

John Lennon

Letter to Queen Elizabeth II sent in 1969 with his MBE, explaining why he was returning it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-37787297

Support

“Well, I just want him to grow up happy. That's the main thing.”

John Lennon

Talking about his son, Julian Lennon, in Ticket to Ride : Inside the Beatles' 1964 Tour That Changed the World (2003) by Larry Kane http://books.google.com/books?id=5MYmhGAmfUkC&pg=PA258&lpg=PA258&dq=%22well+i+just+want+him+to+grow+up+happy+that's+the+main+thing%22&source=web&ots=o-UOaUrmcr&sig=svkKFzayFfeFgYVwxKn0GsDysPU

Happiness

“Half of what I say is meaningless
But I say it just to reach you
Julia.”

John Lennon

"Julia" on The Beatles (1968); these lines were adapted from lines of Sand and Foam (1926) by Khalil Gibran: "Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you".
Lyrics

“These memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new.”

John Lennon

"In my life"
Lyrics

Love , Thinking , Memory

“I've always considered my work one piece and I consider that my work won't be finished until I am dead and buried and I hope that's a long, long time.”

John Lennon

Interview with RKO Radio on the day of his murder (8 December 1980)

Hope , Time , Dead

“Where do people get off saying the Beatles should give $200,000,000 to South America? You know, America has poured billions into places like that. It doesn't mean a damn thing. After they've eaten that meal, then what? It lasts for only a day. After the $200,000,000 is gone, then what? It goes round and round in circles. You can pour money in forever. After Peru, then Harlem, then Britain. There is no one concert. We would have to dedicate the rest of our lives to one world concert tour, and I'm not ready for it. Not in this lifetime, anyway.”

John Lennon

Responding to suggestion that the Beatles should reunite to perform benefit concerts.
Playboy interview (1980)

Money , People , World

“We thought being offered the M. B. E. [Member of the Order of the British Empire] was as funny as everybody else thought it was. Why? What for? We didn't believe it. It was a part we didn't want. We all met and agreed it was daft.”

John Lennon

Quoted by Hunter Davies in The Beatles (1968)

Parting

“Once a thing's been done it's been done, so while this nostalgia — I mean for the '60s and '70s, you know, looking backwards for inspiration, copying the past — how's that rock 'n' roll? Do something of your own. Start something new, you know? Live your lives now. Know what I mean?”

John Lennon

BBC interview, used in a Citroën ad, as quoted in "John Lennon Appearance In Car Ad Stirs Controversy" by Monica Herrera in Billboard (4 March 2010) http://www.billboard.com/column-viralvideos/john-lennon-appearance-in-car-ad-stirs-controversy-1004072693.story#/column-viralvideos/john-lennon-appearance-in-car-ad-stirs-controversy-1004072693.story. Though there has been no official dispute that he made this statement, a YouTube video has claimed that the audio used in the advertisement is not original http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipyUk5-wlFg.
Disputed

Nostalgia , Past

“I've had cocaine, but I don't like it. The Beatles had lots of it in their day, but it's a dumb drug, because you have to have another one 20 minutes later. Your whole concentration goes on getting the next fix. Really, I find caffeine is easier to deal with. … A little mushroom or peyote is not beyond my scope, you know, maybe twice a year or something. You don't hear about it anymore, but people are still visiting the cosmos. We must always remember to thank the CIA and the Army for LSD. That's what people forget. … They invented LSD to control people and what they did was give us freedom. Sometimes it works in mysterious ways its wonders to perform.”

John Lennon

Playboy interview (1980)

People , Way , Freedom , Forgetting

“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

During the Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, Canada (1 June 1969) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oJ9w0x_dzo

Game , Fight

“If people take any notice of what we say, we say we've been through the drug scene, man, and there's nothing like being straight.”

John Lennon

The Dick Cavett Show (24 September 1971)

People

“Above all else never let people know how physically unattractive they actually are. Everyone deserves to believe they are beautiful.”

John Lennon

The Beatles Anthology (2000)

People , Beauty

“Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war—for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more.”

John Lennon

Quoted in The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics http://books.google.com/books?id=DKG-FXj_HNYC&q=%22lots+of+people+who+complained+about+us+receiving+the+MBE+received+theirs+for+heroism+in+the+war+for+killing+people+we+received+ours+for+entertaining+other+people+I%27d+say+we+deserve+ours+more%22&pg=PA33#v=onepage (1969)

War , People

“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

You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one;
I hope some day you will join us,
And the world will live as one.
"Imagine" (song)
Lyrics, Imagine (1971 album)

Hunger , People , World , Imagination

“First you must learn to smile as you kill.”

John Lennon

"Working Class Hero"
Lyrics, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)

Smile , Learning

“Christ, you know it ain't easy
You know how hard it can be.
The way things are going,
they're going to crucify me.”

John Lennon

"Ballad of John and Yoko" (1969)
Lyrics

Way , Christ

“There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain”

John Lennon

"In my life"
Lyrics

Life , Change