"People think the Beatles know what's going on. We don't. We're just doing it."

"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

"And God help Bruce Springsteen when they decide he's no longer God... They'll turn on him, and I hope he survives it."

"I used to think that the world was doing something to me, that the world owed me something. And that either the conservatives or the socialists or the fascists or the communists or the Christians or the Jews or the fascists were doing something to me. And when you're a teeny-booper, that's what you think. I'm 40 now, I don't think that anymore-because I found out it doesn't fucking work. I am part of them. There's no separation. Were all one. 'Give peace a chance,' not 'Shoot people for peace.' 'All you need is love.' I believe it. It's damn hard, but I absolutely believe it."

"We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity."

"Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears."

"The sun is up, the sky is blueIt's beautiful, and so are you."

"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."

"I regret profoundly that I was not an American and not born in Greenwich Village. It might be dying, and there might be a lot of dirt in the air you breathe, but this is where it's happening."

"All you need is love."

"Everything is clearer when you're in love."

"Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

"I'm not claiming divinity. I've never claimed purity of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can... But I still believe in peace, love and understanding."

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

"I'm not going to change the way I look or the way I feel to conform to anything. I've always been a freak. So I've been a freak all my life and I have to live with that, you know. I'm one of those people."

"As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot."

"Rituals are important. Nowadays it's hip not to be married. I'm not interested in being hip."

"All we are saying is give peace a chance."

"Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one."

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

"These critics with the illusions they've created about artists - it's like idol worship. They only like people when they're on their way up... I cannot be on the way up again."

"The unknown is what it is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybody scurrying around chasing dreams illusions wars peace love hate all that.... Accept that it's unknown and it's plain sailing."

"I wasn't saying whatever they're saying I was saying. I'm sorry I said it really. I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologize if that will make you happy. I still don't know quite what I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologize, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry."

"How can I go forward when I don't know which way I'm facing?"

"The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that's making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?"

"We all shine on...like the moon and the stars and the sun...we all shine on...come on and on and on..."

"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."

"Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery in my mind wasn't insanity. Surrealism to me is reality."

"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."

"I am he As you are me And we are all together."

"Whatever gets you through the night."

"There are only a few notes. Just variations on a theme."

"Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun."

"Living is Easy with Eyes Closed."

"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. You've got to really look after it and nurture it."

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

"Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you've got to let it grow."

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

"Declare it. Just the same way we declare war. That is how we will have peace... we just need to declare it."

"For those of you in the cheap seats I'd like ya to clap your hands to this one, the rest of you can just rattle your jewelry!"

"You're just left with yourself all the time, whatever you do anyway. You've got to get down to your own God in your own temple. It's all down to you, mate."

"There's nothing you can know that isn't known."

"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong."

"I used to think it was mere homesickness, then I started getting it at home."

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one."

"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality."

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

"You tell me it's the institution.Well, you know, you'd better free you mind instead.But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow.Don't you know it's gonna be all right?"

"Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns it calls me on and on across the universe."

"Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friends."