Well, I don’t want to be king, I want to be real.

— John Lennon

We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can't just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it's going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. Furthermore, you've got to really look after it and nurture it.

— John Lennon

Whatever gets you through the night

— John Lennon

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

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. 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

When somebody is angry with us, we draw a halo around his or her head in our minds. Does the person stop being angry then? Well we don't know! We know though that when we draw a halo around a person suddenly the person starts to look like an angel to us.

— John Lennon

When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.

— John Lennon

Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? All the rest of you if you'll just rattle your jewelry.

— John Lennon

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

— John Lennon

You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.

— John Lennon