John Lennon, 1980-2016

It's been thirty six years he's gone. All my life.
Reading this, feeling like sharing.


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The John Lennon quotes that are still painfully relevant in this troubled world

On 8 December 1980, John Lennon was shot four times in the back outside of his apartment building in New York City. He was 40 years old. Lennon's words still ring just a true today as they did in his own lifetime. Here are The Independent's selection:

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

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."

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

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

"We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant.... You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it."

"What we’ve got to do is keep hope alive. Because without it we’ll sink."

"If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal."

John Lennon with his wife, Yoko Ono, photographed in 1969 (Getty)

"I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you."

“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.”

 “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.”