There's many women now who think, 'Surely we don't need feminism anymore, we're all liberated and society's accepting us as we are'. Which is just hogwash. It's not true at all.
— Yoko Ono
In the '60s we fought for peace, when the Vietnam war was on. We were against the cops and against the politicians, and there was a lot of waving banners and all that. And I think in a way, just as they were enjoying that machoism of war, we were enjoying the machismo of being anti-war, you know?
When people ask me what the most important thing is in life, I answer: 'Just breathe.'
I think that there is a sort of spiritual power that is translating into our bodies as we perform. Performers give, and giving is so important. It can heal. That is my experience, anyway.
To me, the concept of distance is not important. Distance doesn't exist, in fact, and neither does time. Vibrations from love or music can be felt everywhere, at all times.
Please know that being 80 is not a scary thing. When you're 80, your life is much freer.
Energy is so important. If you don't have it, don't bother with rock and roll.
We artists have the dignity to tell the truth to the people, unlike politicians.
When you are totally depressed, you should try giggling. Just make yourself laugh. Force yourself to laugh.
Even my mother told me: 'You are a handsome woman, but you're not pretty. Pretty girls don't have those big bones.'
I don't think about the future. I don't think about the past. I just think of what comes into my head at the time. So that might be about the past, that might be about the future. Or, the present.
People are still thinking of solving problems by violence and war, and that has to stop.
When I was four years old, my mother put me into a school for early music education where you get perfect pitch and harmony and composition.
It is very difficult for us to know we love somebody because it is an insecure position to be in. But in the end, it is important to be honest about your love because life is not that long.
Music is like my security blanket.
Art for me is like breathing.
Experiencing sadness and anger can make you feel more creative, and by being creative, you can get beyond your pain or negativity.
Women are put in a position of feeling embarrassed about their bodies. It's so ridiculous, but also astounding - we have to always be apologetic about having created the human race.
If a woman writes about a domestic situation, everyone automatically assumes that it's about her.
If you have too many quotes from other people in your head, you can't create. You have to keep your head empty. That's why I am constantly enjoying the sky, the park, the walk.
I think energy is the most important thing that we can give to people as performers. Anything else is a little bit pretentious. But energy is not.
Art is like breathing for me. If I don't do it, I start to choke.
Society tells you that when you're old you have to retire. You have to defy that.
Our public officials have forgotten that they are ultimately accountable to the people who put them in office, that the information they keep in secrecy belongs to all of us.
Losing my daughter was a very serious pain. There was always some empty space in my heart.
Women are very intelligent and not appreciated. We try to pretend that we are not clever, and it's such a pity that we can't show how clever we are.
We know that our cells are speaking to each other.
I'm very thankful that I can make people happy just by signing my name.
I did not break up the Beatles. You can't have it both ways. If you're going to blame me for breaking the Beatles up, you should be thankful that I made them into myth rather than a crumbling group.
Women artists are still treated differently from men.
I trust myself. You need that to survive.
The only instrument I can play is piano. Whenever I make songs at home, I play the piano and make them on the piano.
When you are suffering, you become more understanding about yourself, but also about other people's sufferings too. That's the first step to understand somebody is to understand their sufferings. So then love follows.
I have only one life, so I want to make sure it's a good one.
We're growing up together, the human race. And we've discovered a lot of things that we didn't know. We're finding our way. Instead of thinking about doomsday all the time, think about how beautiful the world is. We're all together, and together we're getting wiser.
Chemically speaking or biologically, we research things, but we don't know half of them. We only know our half of it - symbolically - and we don't know ourselves more than half.
When I speak out against the guns or against the big corporations, some of my friends say, 'Oh Yoko, be careful. These people have all the power.' But, you know, most people don't speak out because they are frightened.
Sometimes the father feels pushed out because of the connection between the mother and the child.
We don't live by just sleeping and eating. We need pride and dignity in our lives. Work gives you that.
Performance art is going to be the future. Plays on Broadway are so restricted. But performance art is like haikus, just one line thing. And it's more casual but more interesting.
You change the world by being yourself.
People think that their world will get smaller as they get older. My experience is just the opposite. Your senses become more acute. You start to blossom.
The art world was not initially really accepting my kind of work. I was ahead of my time.
People say that this new generation is so used to the Internet that their heads are already different. They can't read a book from beginning to end. That is not a tragedy. The book changes form.
People don't remember each tree in a park but all of us benefit from the trees. And in a way, artists are like trees in a park.
You know, something happened to me when I became 70. I started to feel a tremendous love for the human race, and life and this planet, the universe, the whole shebang.
Countries have lost their culture because what they wanted was money. Money became the running theme in every country and culture was sacrificed.
Controversy is part of the nature of art and creativity.
I just want to be healthy and stay alive and keep my family going and everything and keep my friends going and try to do something so that this world will be peaceful. That is the most ambitious and the most difficult thing, but I'm there trying to do it.
Japanese are very proud and workaholics. Proud workaholics.
