The 85 best phrases of John Lennon

Many of us think of John Lennon as a music legend, in addition to having been a free spirit, simple and full of love in everything he did. The lead singer of the acclaimed classic rock band ‘The Beatles’ was also the subject of controversy, having parted ways with the band when he formally began his relationship with Yoko Ono and of course because of the tragic way he saw his sudden death at the hands of a fan maddened.

Yet his teachings, songs, and reflections on life made such a profound impact on people that, even today, they still remain. And with these reflections we will get closer to the way of seeing his life.

• We recommend you read: "The 90 best phrases of Paul McCartney"

Great phrases of John Lennon

The composer of ‘Imagine’ brings us below the best phrases of his authorship, from interviews and songs that have been immortalized in history.

1. Peace is not something you want, it is something you create, something you do, something you are and something you give away.

Peace comes from our own actions.

2. My role in society or that of any artist or poet is to try and express what we feel. Do not tell the people how you feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of all of us.

Lennon explains here that it was not his intention to cause a thought form in others.

3. Everything is more clear when you are in love.

Many say that love is blind, but John disagrees.

4. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open ourselves to our ability to love others or to our potential to create.

To love someone we must first have great self-love.

5. When I can't sing what my heart says, the only thing I can do is say what I think.

Songs can bring personal feelings or opinions.

6. Go out and get peace, think peace, live peace and breathe peace and you will have it as soon as you want.

Why wouldn't we want to live in peace?

7. We live in a world where we hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight.

A contradiction that does not make sense.

8. Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.

That is why it is important to learn to enjoy every second of life.

9. Some are willing to do anything but live in the here and now.

We tend to worry more about what happened or what will happen, instead of living in the present.

10. They made us believe that each of us is half an orange, and that life only has meaning when we find the other half.

This is a misconception, a partner is not someone who completes you, but someone who accompanies you.

11. Religion is only a way to get the tithe from the ignorant, there is only one God, and that one does not get rich like the quack priests.

A harsh criticism of religion. That is why Lennon did not believe in them, only in God.

12. Living is easy with your eyes closed.

A metaphor about really enjoying when we are not thinking about anything.

13. When you do something noble and beautiful and no one notices, don't be sad. Dawn is a beautiful sight and yet most of the audience is still sleeping.

Good things don't need to be published to be recognized.

14. Being honest can't make you get a ton of friends, but it always makes you get the right ones.

A great lesson to learn.

15. 1 + 1 = John + Yoko. Simple math.

A love that forever marked John.

16. Love is the flower that you have to let grow.

Love needs patience, work and perseverance so that it grows and strengthens.

17. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are great examples of non-violent beings who died violently. That can never work.

People Lennon admired.

18. They did not tell us that we are already born whole, that no one in our life deserves to carry on our backs the responsibility of completing what we lack.

We are not incomplete, we just have to work on our weaknesses and strengths to be our best version.

19. Each person is the reflection of the music they listen to.

Do you think this is a reality?

20. Declaring it. In the same way that we declare war. This is how we will have peace… we just need to declare it.

It just takes the momentum to start it.

21. As is often the case, behind every idiot there is a great woman.

Women are always present in everyone's lives.

22. I believe in God, but not as a thing, not as an old man in heaven.

Everyone can have their own way of believing in God.

23. It doesn't matter that you hide behind a smile and wear cute clothes, if you can't hide something, it's how rotten you are inside.

Not all people are what they seem.

24. I am not going to change the way I look or feel to conform to something.

Never change your way of being to please others or to get something.

25. When you are drowning you don't say "I would be incredibly grateful if someone took the precaution of realizing that I am sinking and come to help me", you just scream.

Instincts arise when we need them most, that's why we have to listen to them.

26. We are pacifists, but I'm not sure what it means when you are a pacifist and get shot. I can't understand that.

Pacifists are always targets of attacks to silence them.

27. I can't believe I'm getting decorated. I believed that it was necessary to drive tanks and win wars.

A sarcastic comment on the things we reward.

28. I believe in everything until it is disproved. So I believe in fairies, myths, dragons. Everything exists, even if it is in your mind. Who can say that dreams and nightmares are not as real as the here and now?

And do you believe in mythological things?

29. You don't need anyone to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!

Never let anyone guide your life more than yourself.

30. I believe that what people call God is something that is in all of us.

A very beautiful vision of God.

31. I am not The Beatles, Paul is not The Beatles. The Beatles are The Beatles. Separately, they are separate.

His claim about being part of the Beatles.

32. I've always been weird, so I'll be weird for the rest of my life and I have to live with it. I am one of those people.

Why is it wrong to be strange?

33. What we are going to do is keep hope alive because without it we will sink.

Hope is the last thing to be lost, because it is what motivates us to continue.

34. The more I see the less I know, for sure.

We always have something to discover.

35. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections.

If you can't love and accept yourself, no one else will.

36. Separately, they are separate. Moment by moment, so we live now. We appreciate every day and fear them too.

Referring to the life of the members of the band after The Beatles.

37. If everyone demanded peace instead of another television, then there would be peace.

Peace is a right that we must all demand.

38. Everything will be fine in the end. If it's not right, it's not the end.

We must always stay positive and keep trying until we finish.

39. I believe that Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha and what everyone else said is true. The translations have simply been incorrect.

Not always what is said in the writings is the reality.

40. Yoko inspires all this creation in me. It's not that she inspired the songs. She inspires me.

It's not just about love, but about admiration and respect.

41. My name is not Beatle John. She is John Lennon.

John always tried to detach himself from the role imposed by others as the leader of the Beatles.

42. I have to follow my heart wherever it leads me.

Always follow your heart with the things you want to do.

43. Either you get tired fighting for peace or you die.

A radical phrase about getting the phrase.

44. It could be the last day. It sounds funny, but any day you could get hit by a car or something. I'm starting to appreciate it.

Death may be around the corner, so enjoy your life.

45. God is a concept by which we measure our pain.

Many hate or love God depending on what suits them.

46. A dream that you only dream is just a dream. A dream that you dream together is a reality.

A beautiful vision about dreams and goals.

47. You have to accept the unknown, lose your fear, and the rest is simple.

It is normal to fear the unknown, but that should not stop us from experiencing new things.

48. I started the band. I dissolved it. It's that simple.

John had been clear about his responsibility in disbanding The Beatles.

49. Music is everyone's possession. It is the advertisers who believe that people own it.

We can all love music equally.

50. If you love someone, you are never with that person long enough. You never want to be apart.

When we love a person, we want to be with them for as long as possible.

51. All we say is give peace a chance.

This was the message that they repeated so much in their songs.

52. My life with The Beatles had become a trap, a continuous tape ...

Staying in the same job is not always a good option.

53. Everyone loves you when you are six feet on the ground.

A metaphor about people's interest when you have money.

54. I think we are run by maniacs for maniacal purposes, and I think I am liable to be taken as crazy for expressing that. That's what madness is about.

A critique of the people behind advertising and marketing.

55. Everything is as important as everything else.

Things have the importance that you decide to place them.

56. Protest without violence, because violence begets violence.

The only way to eliminate violence is by making acts of peace.

57. Count your age by friends, not by years. Tell your life with smiles, not tears.

Age is just a number, what matters in a good life are the things you have done and the friends you have won.

58. When I finally had the guts to tell the other three that, in quotation marks, I wanted a divorce, they understood that I meant it; unlike Ringo and George's earlier threats to leave.

A great example that we should express ourselves without fear.

59. Peace is only achieved by peaceful methods. Fighting the establishment with your own weapons is not good.

Peace can only be achieved with peace.

60. There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we withdraw from life. When we are in love, we open ourselves to all that life has to offer with passion, enthusiasm, and acceptance.

The two sides of the emotions that motivate us the most.

61. Let's dream of peace.

Achieving peace was Lennon's main goal.

62. There is an alternative to war. It's staying in bed and growing your hair out.

The best way to avoid wars is by respecting each other.

63. We all have a Hitler inside us, but we also have love and peace. So why not give peace a chance for once?

We all have the ability to do good and do evil. We decide which way to lean.

64. Imagine everyone living in peace. You may say that I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one. I hope that one day you will join us, and the world will be one.

An inspiration for one of John's most famous songs, 'Imagine'.

65. Being rich does not change your life experiences. The only difference, basically, is that you don't have to worry about money, food, having a roof, etc. But all other experiences, emotions, relationships are the same.

It is not money that changes us, but our perception of it.

66. When feelings are finally expressed they make you cry, it's just that.

Real feelings are what move us.

67. It doesn't matter how long my hair is or the color of my skin or if I am male or female.

Our traits should not define us, but complement us.

68. I know: I was rich and poor and Yoko too.

From what John knew what he was talking about in both situations.

69. My defenses were so good. The arrogant rock and roll hero who knows all the answers was actually a terrified guy who didn't know how to cry. Easy.

A phrase that shows us the importance of not letting ourselves succumb to fear and just getting ahead.

70. Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given it is never forgotten, never let it disappear.

Love is, without a doubt, the most precious gift of all.

71. You don't need a sword to cut flowers.

A metaphor about getting things done without violence.

72. Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.

As the saying goes, "Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction."

73. I wasn't going to sacrifice true love for any friend or business, because in the end you're left alone at night and neither of you wanted to be.

Your reasons for your decision to leave The Beatles.

74. In my life I have only had two friends, Yoko and Paul.

We do not need to have many friends, but those who can support us and be with us always.

75. Before Elvis there was nothing.

Without a doubt, the respect due to the legend of rock and roll.

76. This is what the great teachers have been saying since the beginning of time. You can mark the way, place signs and small instructions in various books that today are called blessed and are revered for their covered and not because of what they say, but the instructions are there for everyone to see, always have been and always will be.

Children must be taught to read the signs so that they can go their own way.

77. Love is wanting to be loved. Love is asking to be loved. Love is to need to be loved.

It's not just about giving, but about receiving the same amount of love.

78. I believe that time heals all wounds.

Time always helps to heal everything and, of course, to face problems.

79. You can't fill a bed with groupies, it doesn't work. I don't want to be a swinger. Nothing works better than having someone who loves you hug you.

Talking about her loyalty to Yoko.

80. It doesn't matter who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it only matters what you love.

Love without any restrictions and without any questioning.

81. It is impossible to try to please everyone, if you did that, you would end up in the middle, without anyone's liking. Just choose your best version, and make it come true.

A great phrase that is important to keep in mind.

82. Rituals are important. Today it is not fashionable to get married. I am not interested in being modern.

It seems that John was a traditional man.

83. We were four boys. I met Paul, invited him to join my band. Then George joined and then Ringo. We were a group that got very, very big, that's all.

The beginnings of The Beatles, as a simple band with talented young people and dreamers.

84. Only by trying on other people's clothes we find the size we have.

Sometimes it is necessary to compare ourselves to recognize our true essence.

85. Part of my suspicion that I am a loser, and the other thinks that I am the almighty God.

It is normal to have insecurities, the important thing is not to let them win us over.