Political Activists

"Yes is the answer and you know that for sure. Yes is surrender, you got to let it, you got to let it go…"

"Love is the answer and you know that for sure. Love is a flower, you got to let it — you got to let it grow. ...Faith in the future, out of the now..."

"We all been playing those mind games forever Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil. Doing the mind guerrilla, Some call it magic — the search for the grail."

"We're playing those mind games together Pushing the barriers, planting seeds Playing the mind guerrilla Chanting the mantra, Peace on Earth."

"In the middle of a dream In the middle of a dream I call your name Oh Yoko Oh Yoko My love will turn you on"

"You know life can be long And you got to be so strong And the world is so tough Sometimes I feel I've had enough"

"Well, I don't want to be a soldier mama, I don't want to die Well, I don't want to be a sailor mama, I don't want to fly Well, I don't want to be a failure mama, I don't want to cry Well, I don't want to be a soldier mama, I don't want to die"

"So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise You better see right through that mother's eyes Those freaks was right when they said you was dead The one mistake you made was in your head How do you sleep?"

"You can shine your shoes and wear a suit You can comb your hair and look quite cute... You can go to church and sing a hymn You can judge me by the color of my skin You can live a lie until you die One thing you can't hide Is when you're crippled inside"

"I'm sick and tired of hearing things from Uptight short sided narrow minded hypocrites All I want is the truth, just give me some truth I've had enough of reading things By neurotic psychotic pigheaded politicians All I want is the truth, just give me some truth"

"How can I give love when I don't know what it is I'm giving?"

"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..."

"Imagine there's no countries, It isn't hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion, too, Imagine all the people Living life in peace..."

"Imagine there's no heaven, It's easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine all the people Living for today..."

"I was the dreamweaver, but now I'm rebornI was the Walrus, but now I'm JohnAnd so dear friends, you'll just have to carry onThe dream is over."

"I don't believe in ElvisI don't believe in ZimmermanI don't believe in Beatles.I just believe in meYoko and meAnd that's reality."

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

"First you must learn to smile as you kill."

"They keep you doped with religion and sex and TV, And you think you're so clever, and classless and free, But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see."

"They hate you if you're clever, and they despise a fool."

"Although there were no strict rhythm and lead roles in The Beatles, many music fans often highlight John Lennon's rhythm playing and how well it complimented George Harrison's lead guitar. We can easily say that Lennon has laid out some of the foundations for rock 'n' roll guitar players all around the world."

""three quarters of the Beatles"."

"John Lennon was many things to many people. A poet, a rocker, a leader, a troublemaker, a father, a husband — a man. Growing up, to me, he was a hero. The work of John Lennon was marked by its exquisite beauty and by its brutal honesty. So in that vein, let me say, that while I'm both deeply honored to be here — I'm also incredibly pissed-off. I'm outraged because this passionate prophet of peace, and so many others, are not with us here — because we live in an all-too-violent world. And so in the spirit of this occasion it is up to all of us, to do what we can, not only to keep John's songs alive, but help rebuild New York — and that includes your host..."

"He's a son of a bitch and an anti-American."

"John loved and prayed for the human race. Please pray the same for him."

"I definitely did look up to John. We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest and all that kind of thing."

"He must have been a gardener that cared a lot, Who weeded out the tears and grew a good crop; But now it all looks strange, it's funny how one insect Can damage so much grain."

"Was it a millionaire who said "Imagine no possessions"?"

"John Lennon has been my idol all my life but he's dead wrong about revolution... find a representative of gluttony or oppression and blow the motherfucker's head off."

"Ringo isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles."

"If art were to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness."

"Before Elvis there was nothing."

"Everything is OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end."

""You grow with music, or the music outgrows you." - attributed to Lennon, but no verifiable source found"

""Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear." — frequently attributed to Lennon, but entirely unsourced"

"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?"

"This is ex-Beatle, John Lennon. I've been wanting to write you, but I guess I didn't really want to face reality. I never do this, this is why I take drugs. Reality frightens me and paranoids me. True, I have a lot of money... but basically, I'm afraid to face the problems of life. Let me begin to say, I regret that I said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. I don't even like myself anymore — guilt. My Cousin, Marilyn McCabe has tried to help me. She told me you were praying for me. … I want happiness. I don't want to keep up with drugs... Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phoney? Can He love me? I want out of Hell. I am, I hate to say, under the influence of pills now. I can't stop. I only wish I could thank you for caring."

"Before you go to sleep Say a little prayer Every day in every way, it's getting better and better Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy... Out on the ocean sailing away I can hardly wait to see you come of age But I guess we'll both just have to be patient 'Cause it's a long way to go, A hard row to hoe... But in the meantime before you cross the street take my hand Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"

"'I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round I really love to watch them roll No longer riding on the merry-go-round I just had to let it go Ah, people ask me questions Lost in confusion Well, I tell them there's no problems, Only solutions Well, they shake their heads and they look at me, as if I've lost my mind I tell them there's no hurry, I'm just sitting here doing time"

"I know you understand the little child inside of your man.... Woman, please let me explainI never meant to cause you sorrow or painSo let me tell you again and again and again...I love youNow and forever."

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

"Now and then I miss you Oh, now and then I want you to be there for me Always to return to me I know it's true It's all because of you And if you go away I know you'll never stay."

"In England, there are only two things to be, basically: You are either for the labor movement or for the capitalist movement. Either you become a right-wing Archie Bunker if you are in the class I am in, or you become an instinctive socialist, which I was. That meant I think people should get their false teeth and their health looked after, all the rest of it. But apart from that, I worked for money and I wanted to be rich. So what the hell — if that's a paradox, then I'm a socialist. But I am not anything. What I used to be is guilty about money. That's why I lost it, either by giving it away or by allowing myself to be screwed by so-called managers."

"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."

"Part of me suspects that I'm a loser and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty."

"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."

"I don't have any romanticism about any part of my past. I think of it only inasmuch as it gave me pleasure or helped me grow psychologically. That is the only thing that interests me about yesterday. I don't believe in yesterday, by the way. You know I don't believe in yesterday. I am only interested in what I am doing now."

"It can never be again! Everyone always talks about a good thing coming to an end, as if life was over. But I'll be 40 when this interview comes out. Paul is 38. Elton John, Bob Dylan — we're all relatively young people. The game isn't over yet. Everyone talks in terms of the last record or the last Beatle concert — but, God willing, there are another 40 years of productivity to go. I'm not judging whether "I Am The Walrus" is better or worse than "Imagine." It is for others to judge. I am doing it. I do. I don't stand back and judge — I do."

"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."

"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."