Yoko Ono Quotes

Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.

Each time we don't say what we wanna say, we're dying.

You may think I’m small, but I have a universe inside my mind.

Some people are old at 18 and some are young at 90. Time is a concept that humans created.

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

Make your own dream. That's the Beatles' story, isn't it? That's Yoko's story, that's what I'm saying now. Produce your own dream. If you want to save Peru, go save Peru. It's quite possible to do anything, but not to put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don't expect Jimmy Carter or Ronald Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself. That's what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began. They can point the way, leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshipped for the cover of the book and not for what it says, but the instructions are all there for all to see, have always been and always will be. There's nothing new under the sun. All the roads lead to Rome. And people cannot provide it for you. I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you.

We're all water from different rivers, That's why it's so easy to meet, We're all water in this vast, vast ocean, Someday we'll evaporate together.

Use your blood to paint. Keep painting until you faint. Keep painting until you die.

I saw that nothing was permanent. You don't want to possess anything that is dear to you because you might lose it

It's better to dance than to march through life.

You are water I’m water we’re all water in different containers that’s why it’s so easy to meet someday we’ll evaporate together.

Try to say nothing negative about anybody. a) for three days b) for forty-five days c) for three months See what happens to your life.

We’ve been filled with great treasure for one purpose: to be spilled.

Produce your own dream. If you want to save Peru, go save Peru. It’s quite possible to do anything, but not if you put it on the leaders and the parking meters. Don’t expect Carter or Reagan or John Lennon or Yoko Ono or Bob Dylan or Jesus Christ to come and do it for you. You have to do it yourself.

Tape the sound of the moon fading at dawn. Give it to your mother to listen to when she's in sorrow.

Hide until everybody goes home. Hide until everybody forgets about you. Hide until everybody dies.

Mirror becomes a razor when it's broken. A stick becomes a flute when it's loved.

I feel sad that he’s just a voice now.

Art is a way of survival.

Art is my life and my life is art.

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

Imagine the clouds dripping Dig a hole in your garden to put them in

Life with another person is always difficult.

Cosmetics is a boon to every woman, but a girl's best beauty aid is still a near-sighted man.

I think that all women are witches, in the sense that a witch is a magical being. And a wizard, which is a male version of a witch, is kind of revered, and people respect wizards. But a witch, my god, we have to burn them. It’s the male chauvinistic society that we’re living in for the longest time, 3,000 years or whatever. And so I just wanted to point out the fact that men and women are magical beings. We are very blessed that way, so I’m just bringing that out. Don’t be scared of witches, because we are good witches, and you should appreciate our magical power.

I thought art was a verb, rather than a noun.

You can be very wild and still be very wise.

You change the world by being yourself.

Every drop in the ocean counts.

A dream you dream alone may be a dream, but a dream two people dream together is a reality.

Write down everything you fear in life. Burn it. Pour herbal oil with a sweet scent on the ashes.

Yoko Ono, quite simply, did things that John Lennon did not dare.

Love is what it takes to fly

Give death announcements each time you move instead of giving announcements of the change of address. Send the same when you die.

Whisper your dream to a cloud. Ask the cloud to remember it.

The problem with Double Fantasy was the arrangement whereby they alternated John Lennon tracks with Yoko Ono tracks. You couldn’t escape Yoko for more than four minutes at a time.

Have the courage and strength to be yourself. Because there is no other choice. Do you have a choice of being somebody else?

You may think I’m small, but I have a universe in my head.

Each planet has its own orbit agenda. Think of people close to you as planets. Sometimes it’s nice to just watch them orbit and shine.

It’s a waste of time to think that if you coloured a painting red what might have happened if you painted it black.

Some people are old at 18 and some are young at 90... time is a concept that humans created.

Think that snow is falling Think that snow is falling everywhere all the time When you talk with a person, think that snow is falling between you and on that person Stop conversing when you think the person is covered by snow

spring passes and one remembers one's innocence summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance there is a season that never passes and that is the season of glass -- Season of Glass, 1981

TIME PAINTING Make a painting in which the color comes out only under a certain light at a certain time of the day. Make it a very short time. 1961 summer

Listen to the sound of the earth turning.

People are afraid of shadows. People are even more afraid of being in the shadow. But without a shadow, life will be two dimensional.

Imagine a dolphin dancing in the sky. Let it dance with joy. Think of yourself at the bottom of the ocean watching.

She was like a redneck Yoko Ono.

Bandage any part of your body If people ask about it, make a story and tell If people do not ask about it, draw their attention to it and tell If people forget about it, remind them of it and keep telling. Do not talk about anything else

The last song recorded for Abbey Road was Lennon’s BECAUSE - a three-part harmony in C sharp minor inspired by hearing Yoko Ono play the Adagio sostenuto of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27 No. 2 (Moonlight).

water talk you are water I’m water we’re all water in different containers that’s why it’s so easy to meet someday we’ll evaporate together. but even after the water's gone we'll probably point out to the containers and say, "that's me there, that one" we're container minders

Now. Put it in forward.” “Okay, just don’t hurt Yoko.” “Yoko?” “My car.” “You named your car Yoko? As in Ono?” “You have a better name?” “How about Subaru? “I’m shifting!

You change the world by changing yourself.

Jimmy Carter is the embodiment of dignity, grace, and the hope for a better world - Carlos Santana

The work of the poet has always been to shine a bright light on the absurdities of society, challenging hypocrisy and greed, and presenting the tools of change. (Donovan)

You change the world by being yourself

Sleep in separate cities. Sleep in separate countries. Sleep on separate planets. Whisper to each other.

CLOSET PIECE II Put one memory into one half of your head. Shut it off and forget it. Let the other half of the brain long for it. 1964 spring

A cloud consists of the following substances: colour, music, smell, sleep and water. Sometimes it rains substances other than water, but very few people notice it.

SWIM SWIM IN YOUR DREAM AS FAR AS YOU CAN UNTIL YOU FIND AN ISLAND. TELL US RESULTS. 12th day dreamtime

Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life.

several complaints that night, ranging from people thinking cats were fighting to one soul who thought that a neighbor was playing a Yoko Ono album much too loud.

Jesus, Denny." she muttered, "I felt like fucking Yoko Ono.

We live in a country where John Lennon takes eight bullets, Yoko Ono is walking right beside him and not one hits her. Explain that to me!

Whereas John and Yoko might have comfortably lounged around in holiday mode on palatial country estates...the Lennons had this extraordinary urge and need to put something back. To stand up for reason in an unreasonable world, to take advantage of their extraordinary media profile to refocus public attitude and outlook on the murdering of other humans. (Ritchie Yorke)

TAPE PIECE II Room Piece Take the sound of the room breathing. 1) at dawn 2) in the morning 3) in the afternoon 4) in the evening 5) before dawn Bottle the smell of the room of that particular hour as well 1963 autumn

A throne is always paid for in blood. The king of En had told her that once. Even should a king's ascension be bloodless as a gift from Heaven, to hold onto one's throne invariably meant that blood must flow -- as it had at the beginning, in the fight against the false king's armies, and the quelling of civil war, and the execution of criminals. Luckily, the fighting part was easy for Yoko. All she had to do was resist the temptation to run away.

O SANITY It’s only sane to be insane Psychotic builds a castle And neurotic lives in it I don’t know what to do with my sanity When the world’s at the verge of calamity O’ sanity, o’ sanity What am I to do with you Drink up, shoot up, anything you please But you’re always standing behind me Like a devil in hell O’ sanity, sanity Why don’t you let me go? Let go, let go! Cut it out!

He felt extremely responsible for his fans. That's why, instead of showing the best side of himself to them, he went the other way. He said, 'No, I have to be honest -let them know what I am made of. I'm not all that perfect or anything and they have to know that.' (Larry Kane quoting Yoko Ono about John)

ECHO TELEPHONE PIECE Get a telephone that only echoes back your voice. Call every day and talk about many things. 1964 spring

CONCERT PIECE When the curtain rises, go hide and wait until everybody leaves you. Come out and play. 1963 autumn

CENTRAL PARK POND PIECE Go to the middle of the Central Park Pond and drop all your jewelries. 1956 autumn

MIRROR PIECE Instead of obtaining a mirror, obtain a person. Look into him. Use different people. Old, young, fat, small, etc. 1964 spring

Piano keys are flower-petals turned hard.

watch go to the nearest fountain and watch the water dance afternoon 5th day

Grapefruit is a hybrid of lemon and orange. Snow is a hybrid of wish and lament.

count count the clouds name them 8th day (afternoon)

My religion is to trust myself.

Scary discovery of the day: Most people who RT @yokoono's tweets do so without irony.

We are all dreamers creating the next world, the next beautiful world for ourselves and for our children

PAINTING FOR THE BURIAL On the night of the full moon, place a canvas in the garden from 1 a.m. till dawn. When the canvas is dyed thoroughly in rose with the morning light, dismember or fold it and bury. The ways of burial: 1) Bury it in the garden and place a marker with a number on it. 2) Sell it to the rag man. 3) )Throw it in the garbage. 1961 summer

On the cover that leaned against the dirty couch, John and Yoko pressed together for a kiss they would never finish. People were always trashing Yoko Ono, blaming her for breaking up the Beatles, but Josie knew they were just jealous that John preferred Yoko to some bloated megaband. Nobody ever loved a lover. Because love was a private party, and nobody got on the guest list.

Œuvre Promesse Promettez. Elle a été interprétée pour la première fois au Jeanette Cochrane Theatre, à Londres, en 1966. C'était la dernière œuvre de la soirée. Yoko Ono a cassé un vase sur la scène et a demandé aux spectateurs de ramasser les morceaux et de les emporter chez eux, promettant qu'il se réuniraient tous dans 10 ans, rapporteraient les morceaux et reconstitueraient le vase.

They'd retreated to the country with two passports only. From the outside it looked like death. People could pound the walls all they wanted, but they'd never find the door. Nobody could guess at the gardens inside.

In early December 1971, he signed a rather flat defense of Bob Dylan, who had suffered months of harassment from a “fan” named A. J. Weberman: “A.J. claims everything Dylan writes is either about Weberman or about heroin. What bullshit,” the letter read. “It is time we defended and loved each other—and saved our anger for the true enemy, whose ignorance and greed destroys our planet.” The letter was signed: “The Rock Liberation Front, David Peel, Jerry Rubin, Yoko Ono, John Lennon.

Œuvre Neige Pensez que la neige tombe. Pensez que la neige tombe partout tout le temps. Lorsque vous parlez avec quelqu'un, pensez que la neige tombe entre vous et cette personne. Cessez de converser lorsque vous pensez que la personne est recouverte de neige.

None of would've made it alone" John once explained, "because Paul wasn't strong enough, I didn't have enough girl-appeal, George was too quiet, and Ringo was the drummer. But we thought everyone would be able to dig at least one of us, and that's how it turned out.

Dance Report in the old east there was a dance in which young girls at the age of 12 or 13 wore special intoxicating flowers inducing them to sleep while standing. the girls went on standing for hours while people watched and appreciated the delicate swaying of the bodies

We should welcome artists to our shores because this is a haven, isn't it? It's got a big iron lady out there in the sea there saying welcome to the shore and they were trying to kick me out: it's ridiculous when you look back on it, because the most I could have done was gather a big gang of demonstrators together which the police could have shot, so what were they complaining about?

The four solo careers unveiled previously hidden internal politics as each man packed and moved out from the cozy Beatle mansion. Lennon seemed closest to Ringo, and then George; neither Harrison nor Lennon ever appeared on a McCartney solo album or vice-versa, whereas Ringo played for all three. Of course, Lennon’s solo “career” had begun as early as 1968 with numbers like “What’s the New Mary Jane” and “Revolution 9” during the White Album sessions, and then his avant-garde projects with Ono. Casual jams reflected these affinities as well: John and Yoko appeared onstage with George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and the Bonnie and Delaney band in London in December of 1969. Harrison was slumming with the band after sitting in for a night and having rather too much fun; he appeared onstage anonymously until it got reported in the music press. Mostly they got away with two weeks of touring, with Clapton and Harrison sharing lead guitars almost before most audiences figured this out.

John's was not a glum, negative, insulting attack on society but a sharp-witted, entertaining, cock-a-snook approach that encouraged young people to express themselves as individuals and to reject the stifling rigidity of a lot of the older social traditions. Thanks to John, to give one example, regional dialects were no longer looked upon as a hindrance. He made no attempt to tone down his Liverpool accent (indeed, he exaggerated it) and this encouraged others to follow suit. Previously, without cut-glass Oxford English, it was impossible for anyone to make progress in the media. John changed all that, and a great deal more as well. (Desmond Morris)

Tony Cox, still a painter and not yet married to Yoko Ono, pioneered in the use of mescaline for draft-evasion. 400 milligrams taken before his own preinduction physical prompted an angry outburstas an orderly took a stab at his arm to draw blood. Tony roared, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" and was led into the presence of a psychiatrist with whom he engaged in a protracted discussion of the merits of the New York school of abstract expressionist painting, all the while naked. Tony got his 4F classification, presumably on grounds of schizophrenia, and went on to counsel others liable to military service, using the same approach.

Tony Cox, still a painter and not yet married to Yoko Ono, pioneered in the use of mescaline for draft-evasion. 400 milligrams taken before his own preinduction physical prompted an angry outburstas an orderly took a stab at his arm to draw blood. Tony roared, "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" and was led into the presence of a psychiatrist with whom he engaged in a protracted discussion of the merits of the New York school of abstract expressionist painting, all the while naked. Tony got his 4F classification, presumably on grounds of schizophrenia, and went on to counsel others liable to military service, using the same approach.

Imported narcotics on CIA planes and otherwise serve three purposes important to the federal government. It is good business, exceeding war profits. Drug dealers work with the intelligence and military sectors. Profits gained from drug traffic help support covert projects, including assassinations. Second, provocateurs and police agents purposely push narcotics into the ghettos to control minorities. According to Louis Tackwood, the LAPD distributed drugs, as do other police agencies. Third, the necessary violence and crime in the streets caused by supporting drug habits requires more police, local helicopters, surveillance, arrests without warrants, framing selected patsies by planting evidence, and makes the law enforcement agent the protector of our life and property. Planted marijuana in the binoculars of John Lennon was the excuse to deport him. In spite of the cultural advancements that he and Yoko Ono have made, their outspoken criticism of war, genocide and political imprisonment make them eligible for the “enemies list.

Fran from Pacem in Terris emailed me this review years ago, she couldn't seem to post it. but it is regarding my book La Dogaressa : La Dogaressa exudes enchantment, a book difficult to put down once it is in your hand... First opened to Yoko Ono, which blew me away, I felt I was in such a sacred, intimate place, then the feel and size of the book in your hand, Michael's exceptional photo and art, the design by Jessica, extraordinary quotes that help us humans understand and get through life easier, your thought provoking genius writing that expands and fills the heart and mind... and the endearing cowboy buddha logo I adore and love every molecule of this book!! The world needs you

Fifty Best Rock Documentaries Chicago Blues (1972) B. B. King: The Life of Riley (2014) Devil at the Crossroads (2019) BBC: Dancing in the Street: Whole Lotta Shakin’ (1996) BBC: Story of American Folk Music (2014) The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time! (1982) PBS: The March on Washington (2013) BBC: Beach Boys: Wouldn’t It Be Nice (2005) The Wrecking Crew (2008) What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A. (1964) BBC: Blues Britannia (2009) Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling—Ireland 1965 (2012) Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back (1967) BBC: The Motown Invasion (2011) Rolling Stones: Sympathy for the Devil (1968) BBC: Summer of Love: How Hippies Changed the World (2017) Gimme Shelter (1970) Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World (2017) Cocksucker Blues (1972) John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band: Sweet Toronto (1971) John and Yoko: Above Us Only Sky (2018) Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon’s “Imagine” Album (2000) Echo in the Canyon (2018) BBC: Prog Rock Britannia (2009) BBC: Hotel California: LA from the Byrds to the Eagles (2007) The Allman Brothers Band: After the Crash (2016) BBC: Sweet Home Alabama: The Southern Rock Saga (2012) Ain’t in It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm (2010) BBC: Kings of Glam (2006) Super Duper Alice Cooper (2014) New York Dolls: All Dolled Up (2005) End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2004) Fillmore: The Last Days (1972) Gimme Danger: The Stooges (2016) George Clinton: The Mothership Connection (1998) Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1997) The Who: The Kids Are Alright (1979) The Clash: New Year’s Day ’77 (2015) The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) U2: Rattle and Hum (1988) Neil Young: Year of the Horse (1997) Ginger Baker: Beware of Mr. Baker (2012) AC/DC: Dirty Deeds (2012) Grateful Dead: Long, Strange Trip (2017) No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) Hip-Hop Evolution (2016) Joan Jett: Bad Reputation (2018) David Crosby: Remember My Name (2019) Zappa (2020) Summer of Soul (2021)

One morning at breakfast he pointed out an article in the newspaper to me. It was about a Japanese artist, Yoko Ono, who had made a film that consisted of close-up shots of people’s bottoms. ‘Cyn, you’ve got to look at this. It must be a joke. Christ, what next? She can’t be serious!’ We laughed and shook our heads. ‘Mad,’ John said. ‘She must be off her rocker.’ I had to agree. We had no understanding at all of avant-garde art or conceptualism at that point and the newspaper went into the bin. We didn’t discuss Yoko Ono again until one night when we were lying in bed, reading, I asked John what his book was. It was called Grapefruit and looked very short. ‘Oh, something that weird artist woman sent me,’ he said.

Two days later I was watching television when a newsreader announced that John Lennon and Yoko Ono had been in a car crash in Scotland, with their children Julian and Kyoko. No one was badly hurt and they were all in hospital. I was horrified. What on earth was John doing taking Julian to Scotland without telling me?

The influence of the mid-to-late-Sixties English counterculture is clearer in The Beatles’ music than in that of any of their rivals. This arose from a conflux of links, beginning with their introduction by Brian Epstein to the film director Richard Lester, continuing with McCartney’s friendships with Miles and John Dunbar, and culminating in the meeting of Lennon and Yoko Ono. Through Lester and his associates - who included The Beatles’ comedy heroes Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers - the group’s consciousness around the time of Sgt. Pepper was permeated by the anarchic English fringe theatre, with its penchant for Empire burlesque (e.g., The Alberts, Ivor Cutler, Milligan and Antrobus’s The Bed Sitting Room). This atmosphere mingled with contemporary strains from English Pop Art and Beat poetry; the ‘happenings’ and experimental drama of The People Show, Peter Brook’s company, and Julian Beck’s Living Theatre; the improvised performances of AMM and what later became the Scratch Orchestra; the avant-garde Euro-cinema of Fellini and Antonioni; and the satire at Peter Cook’s Establishment club and in his TV show with Dudley Moore, Not Only . . . But Also (in which Lennon twice appeared). From the cultural watershed of 1965-6 onwards, The Beatles’ American heroes of the rock-and-roll Fifties gave way to a kaleidoscopic mélange of local influences from the English fringe arts and the Anglo-European counterculture as well as from English folk music and music-hall.

Galaxy 500′s cover of Yoko Ono’s Listen, the Snow Is Falling, or Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, The Chambermaids Down in the Berries,