99+ John Lydon Quotes On Politics, Socialism And Jimmy Savile

John Lydon is an English singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of the punk rock band Sex Pistols and the post-punk band Public Image Ltd. He is also known for his outspoken and often controversial views and has been described as one of the most influential figures in the history of British music. His music has been influential in a variety of genres, including punk, post-punk, alternative rock, dance, and industrial. Following is our collection on famous quotes by John Lydon on leadership, life, politics.

Top 10 John Lydon Quotes

1. When you talk like an asshole and look like an asshole, you're an asshole
2. Punk became a circus didn't it? Everybody got it wrong. The message was supposed to be: Don't follow us, do what you want!
3. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?
4. Obama's dense as a doorbell; not much going on up there - it's a wooden top.
5. I think national pride leads to nothing but wars and hate.
6. I like lime-flavoured yoghurt. The end. There is no religion. It’s a man-made fabrication. Once you understand that, you’ll be a happier individual. Atheism is as pointless as satanism.
7. [Replying to the question of the presenter: "where did the name "Sex Pistols" come from, who thought this name up?"] Some animal. I can't remember. It doesn't matter. It's history.
8. Rock n' roll is over, don't you get it? It lasted 25 years and now gets wiped out. The Sex Pistols were the bullet in the brain. They were the last rock and roll band.
9. I could take on England, but I couldn't take on one heroin user.
10. I don't need a Rolls-Royce, I don't need a house in the country, I don't need to live in the south of France. I'm quite happy as I am.

John Lydon Short Quotes

• If you give me the chance, I'll destroy America for you.
• Turn the other cheek too often and you get a razor through it.
• I've always despised the hippies.
• If you really want the truth of anything, don't use Wikipedia.
• Stroll into work at 10. Lunch from 12 till three. Leave work at five. That's living!
• If dolphins are so intelligent, how come they ain't got Walkmans?
• I don't like walking in the street and seeing 30,000 copies of myself.
• Some of us are born big-minded with small penises. Others have big penises and small-minded.
• You'll find that empty vessels make the most sound.
• Anybody who says, "Look, John, I'm a politician. Don't believe a word I say," is a friend of mine.

John Lydon Quotes About Love

I will always pay respect and homage to my early years, because that's what gave me the initial push to go on and do what it is I do. That's where I learned the love and respect for music. — John Lydon

Love is two minutes fifty-two seconds of squishing noises. It shows your mind isn't clicking right. — John Lydon

I'd love to have been born into a wealthy family. I might have turned out even more marvellous than I am now. — John Lydon

I love books, and all the best ones are people analysing their own emotions. You can learn from that. — John Lydon

I love pop music. It's not easy to write a good pop song. It may be easier to put out a fake jazz album, as Sting does from time to time. — John Lydon

Love is what you feel for a dog or a pussycat. It doesn't apply to humans. — John Lydon

Love is two minutes and fifty-two seconds of squishy sounds. — John Lydon

John Lydon Famous Quotes And Sayings

Michael Jackson plays the wounded puppy very well. 'I must be the loneliest man in the world'. Well, you're not a man. And the loneliness is self inflicted, so sod off you pathetic puerile pimp. I wonder what color his willy is. — John Lydon

For me, the anarchy movement is hilarious. It's all under .org, which is of course government sponsored websites, and then they're all wearing corporate clothing from the Dr.Martin's to the back sacks and the cell phones, they're all flying around on corporate jets and using corporate highways. Very anarchistic! — John Lydon

I always feel like a bit of an outsider myself, but as a working class lad, the system was always against me. The British system itself and then of course all the illnesses that were challenging to me. — John Lydon

You never know how things will work out. After all the bad reasons in the world, some good came out. — John Lydon

You should never, ever be understood completely. That's like the kiss of death, isn't it? It's a full stop. I don't ever think you should put full stops on thoughts. They change. — John Lydon

It's a loser's emblem (swastika), because the Nazis lost the war. It's ridiculous to suggest we are involved with fascists. All my best friends are black, gay, Irish or criminals. — John Lydon

Punk is like looking at a mirror. I already have a mirror so I don't need the Offspring to remind me how gorgeous I am. — John Lydon

I'm not going to pontificate and tell you to execute your government at dawn, but it wouldn't be a bad idea. — John Lydon

Dummy Dum Dum was my nickname for years at school. I was the strange one of the family, the one who couldn't remember his name. — John Lydon

Anyone who's parading under a $100,00-plus video is not free from corporate. That's just the MTV advertising agency. I find them all to be just a bit of a sham. — John Lydon

What goes on in the world and who's defining what is right or wrong in anything? Is there a place in any of our existence where we need judgment any longer? But we should have empathy towards each other and break away from those categories that politics and religion keep throwing back at us. — John Lydon

I somehow hope - naïve though I may be, utopian, possibly - that my music has some kind of calming effect on the universe, that it's somehow beneficial to people. — John Lydon

I'm aware of my songs. I'm aware of them because they're about true emotions, true feelings, things that matter. — John Lydon

I have the integrity of a teenager and that's never going to be stolen from me. I'm the original virgin. — John Lydon

It's nice to be a part of history but people should get it right. I may not be perfect, but I'm bloody close. — John Lydon

Some visualize the Pistols era in shades of black and white. It wasn't. Actually, the colors I envision are neon or army dirt green with fluorescent pink--anything that would annoy." — John Lydon

For me, I'll always stand up for the disenfranchised, and I'm going to make a big point of that. I'm not a protest singer as such, you know? After the endurance course of the early 70s and 60s, I don't want to become one of them twats. But you got to learn to speak the truth. — John Lydon

The country you're born in is where your passport comes from. No, not according to Donald Trump! No, not at all. I resent that kind of extremism of any kind. Left wing, right wing. Anyway at all. Anything that judges other people so harshly and across the board stupidity-wise. I got no time for that. — John Lydon

Any kind of history you read is basically the winning side telling you the others were bad. — John Lydon

If the Royal Family was going to assassinate someone, they would have gotten rid of me a long time ago. — John Lydon

Let's escape the past. The past didn't work. All we have is the future, and I'm the one who wrote "no future for you!" Don't let the irony be lost. — John Lydon

Only the fakes survive. — John Lydon

The idea of hearing, 'Great gig, man,' one more time just turns my stomach over. — John Lydon

This is a very difficult thing to remain independent and persistent. — John Lydon

For me, the best rock is not what you play - it's what you're not playing. — John Lydon

I'm not able to tell you what the best song is yet, because there's more to come. I feel that in me. I can still feel the burning energy and the desire to create and create and create. — John Lydon

I don't believe in false memories, like I don't believe in false songs. — John Lydon

You can always wake up on the wrong side of the bed and boo-hiss everyone suffers. We can all be temperamental. — John Lydon

What I like or dislike in music is my internal affair. I never want an audience out there to be influenced because John said. I don't want to have to endure that kind of nonsense. I work for the art of the individual. — John Lydon

As a human being, I'm work in process. — John Lydon

I don't like the monikers, and I don't like being pigeonholed. You know, I'm a human being. — John Lydon

I'm not one for like soul-searching, sour fizzy moments. I come from the school of hard knocks, "f**king get on with it", that's it. — John Lydon

For me all governments are my enemies and I've never made any bones about it any other way other than directly, and I don't fly the left flag or the right flag, me, I'm common sense. — John Lydon

I'm very open about my politics. I don't believe in any political party at all, none of them. — John Lydon

Punks in their silly leather jackets are a cliché. I have never liked the term and have never discussed it. I just got on with it and got out of it when it became a competition. — John Lydon

The way the music industry is now geared, it's fewer accolades towards new and upcoming acts. New bands offer bright creativity. It's a set format. A venue would rather hire a DJ than a band, and that's a problem. — John Lydon

There's many, many ways to write a song. But generally, sitting down at a table and writing is not one of them. — John Lydon

It's an absurdity to just wish for a world of chaos without anything viable in its place. I'm loyal to my culture, my creed, the human race and my people and I don't want to see them all end up in a Mad Max movie. — John Lydon

I've always strived to maintain a very healthy, friendly working situation, and lo and behold, it only took forty years, so the next sixty are looking bright. You're dealing with human beings on the cutting edge, and there's bound to be tension. You have to be make room for that, and you can't be too unreasonable, because that's everybody else's role. — John Lydon

My reputation is a media creation. — John Lydon

I don't understand the art of compromise, and it's a shame the politicians don't understand that as well, you know, we might have a better, clearer world. But then saying that, we might also get a lot of Donald Trump's running left right and centre. — John Lydon

You can't arrest me, I'm a rockstar. — John Lydon

A healthy mind can live in an unhealthy body. — John Lydon

If you are pissing people off, you know you are doing something right — John Lydon

Music is escapism from the grim realities of life. But then as soon as you escape into the music, from my point of view, I found I had to deal with the very things that I thought I was running away from. I wanted to hit those problems on the head and resolve them. So they didn't remain as issues in my psyche. — John Lydon

I applaud the effort it takes to put a record together. — John Lydon

I'm not limited to categories or genres. Anything human beings come up with fascinates me. If a three-legged idiot like me can dance to it, then that's all well and fine. — John Lydon

I hate death; it takes people away from you. You're left feeling rudderless. — John Lydon

I do use my music to entertain myself, as indeed I use other people's music. — John Lydon

I'm just permanently agitated by everything and everyone. — John Lydon

I have values. But morals are Christian. There's no religion here. Values. Don't hurt when you don't need to, but don't let anybody step over that line - it's an invisible line, but it's respect for somebody's space. — John Lydon

I come from the school of do it yourself mate. Unfortunately over the years there's been quite a few of, "Can you do it for us Johnny, so we can grab all your glory?". — John Lydon

Me, as a human, I never want to take away another human being's choices or lifestyles or anything. — John Lydon

I got into music by happenchance and luck and wearing a t-shirt with "I hate Pink Floyd" on it. The irony has never failed to amuse me ever since because I didn't hate Pink Floyd at all! And yet you have an entire range of people out there believing that the best thing you can do in life is to hate Pink Floyd. Come on, It's because it's the world I live in! — John Lydon

I don't listen to music. I hate music. — John Lydon

We're Sex Pistols, we ain't fake. — John Lydon

The only notes that matter come in a wad — John Lydon

I have no time for lies and fantasy, and neither should you. Enjoy or die. — John Lydon

That's where money comes from, you work hard and you earn and then you spend it on correct things, and Public Image is a correct thing. — John Lydon

The sounds of anger are not melodic. — John Lydon

I'm a great self-doubter. I constantly need to prove myself to myself. I've never run to heroin or alcohol to hide that. I always have to deal with it. Stage fright is always going to be there. I have nightmares about bad gigs. — John Lydon

What do you have to do to get people to take an interest? I'm not going to go out and cause a silly sex scandal just to sell a record! — John Lydon

I don't mind dancing the robot if the chemicals are ok, but beyond that the robot will not pull my strings. — John Lydon

It seems like the more I punish myself, the better it's been. What it is, I'm relentless and I never give up. I never take the easy way out. — John Lydon

The day I run out of ideas is the day I stop making records. — John Lydon

The greatest achievement of my life is enduring a disease that nearly killed me. I came out of it a better person. It's my one great accomplishment - more so than anything else I've done. — John Lydon

Books are like my one and only joy. — John Lydon

Maybe I'm a prehistoric monster by being an individual. It's highly likely. All I offer to others is their own individuality. Grab it! — John Lydon

It's quite sad to see how many people I've known over that years that just die off, you know like wilted flowers. Well, there's something to be said for flowers in the dustbin. — John Lydon

Judge not others unless you're prepared to be judged! — John Lydon

For me people are people, without meaning to sound corny, it's a plain natural fact, music is a universal language and I've always known that and observed that and treated music with great respect accordingly. — John Lydon

Meat isn't murder, it's delicious. — John Lydon

Life Lessons by John Lydon

1. John Lydon's work has taught us to be fearless and to stand up for our beliefs and values, no matter how unpopular they may be.
2. He has also shown us that it is possible to find success and recognition through creativity and hard work.
3. John Lydon's work has also demonstrated the importance of staying true to yourself and not compromising your values for the sake of success.