John Lydon quotes - page 7

You have moments of grief in life, and if you can put pen to paper and capture that, that's something wonderful. I can revisit actual songs about past deaths, and I know that emotion is as true now as it was then. (John Lydon)
These days young kids don't have any place to form an epic adventure. It's more often in front of the TV screen or a laptop. That's very hard on them. They're being taught daily unsocial skills. Facebook is an unsocial skill. It's so sad. View quote
John Lydon
I've been asked over the years to compile a list of desert-island discs. I couldn't do that. If I was trapped on a desert island, I don't think I'd want 10 songs to bring with me. View quote
John Lydon
I love conversation and the sharing of different thoughts and philosophies. That kind of stuff always makes me happy. I don't mind interviews, either - I like doing them. View quote
John Lydon
Punk was never about one particular clean-cut imagery... it's about many, many individuals coming very loosely together. View quote
John Lydon
If you were to look back at me as a school kid you'd see a very quiet little church mouse kind of character. View quote
John Lydon
I never take any commitment lightly, and I certainly don't take my wife lightly. I never did and I never will. That's permanent. That's true love. View quote
John Lydon
Listen, you know this: If there's not a rebellious youth culture, there's no culture at all. It's absolutely essential. It is the future. This is what we're supposed to do as a species, is advance ideas. View quote
John Lydon
I've helped launch 49 careers - those that have been in PiL. To me, they are my babies; whatever they get up to, they know I love them. They've been living in my pockets, and they should show more gratitude. View quote
John Lydon
If I'm left to my own devices, I will be tempted to make the most unlistenable music possible. View quote
John Lydon
I've never said I'm a communist. (John Lydon)
Periods of inactivity, I don't know such things. I'm consistently writing. My life is busy. It always is. There are hardly any moments for self-indulgent laziness. View quote
John Lydon
It's volatile, the marriage. Which one isn't? Nothing better than a good, full-on row. Get it all out. Say rude and nasty things. And then be sorry. Genuinely sorry, afterwards. View quote
John Lydon
I've always said, I thought the Sex Pistols was more Music Hall than anything else - because I think that really, more truths are said in humour than any other form. View quote
John Lydon
Any new ideas go into PiL. My inspiration is everything that the human being gets up to. I don't listen to any music when I'm in PiL-zone, because influences can poison your well. Otherwise, I listen to anything. View quote
John Lydon
I like America's diversity and its landscapes. View quote
John Lydon
I don't believe in pets. I like animals to be wild and free. View quote
John Lydon
I've had great pleasure meeting the likes of Newt Gingrich and having a chat with the fellow on a staircase. I found him completely dishonest and totally likeable, because he doesn't care! He knows what a politician is, and he's a perfect embodiment of one. View quote
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. View quote
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. View quote
John Lydon
Don't accept the old order. Get rid of it. (John Lydon)
Every single lyric I've ever written I meant. View quote
John Lydon
Joe Strummer, God bless him, he's gone and he shall be missed. But how dare he preach class war with an organisation like that [the late '80s Rock Against The Rich movement]. Living in a huge house in Holland Park. Every photo opportunity to be seen on a bus in his leather jacket, and then he went back to a palace. You're not getting it quite right there! That's where his image mattered more to him than the reality. He was trying to con us. In a nice way and for the right reasons but once you start lying it carries on and on and on. View quote
John Lydon
How can you ban language, words? How're words offensive? And why should I have to tolerate YOUR interpretation? I'm the one using the word. ASK me how I'm using it, don't TELL me. And if you don't like the way I'm using it, so what? It's my right. It's my freedom of expression. Without that, we're nothing but slaves. My language, now fuck off!!! View quote
John Lydon
Almost killed me, nothing to be laughed at. But oddly enough it's something that made me. Without that, I probably wouldn't be where I am today, so thank God I almost died. The pain I had to endure of losing my memory and forgetting who I was - that's always still in me. I never explained it until the book, and the songs - what agony that was for me. My greatest sense of achievement was conquering that. View quote
John Lydon