Top 180 John Lydon Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “I don’t listen to music. I hate music.”

— John Lydon

2. “Gossip is a very dangerous tool. We should be more wary of the gossiper, and not the gossip they’re trying to relay to you.”

— John Lydon

3. “As a human being, I’m work in process.”

— John Lydon

4. “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”

— John Lydon

5. “I’m not here for your amusement. You’re here for mine.”

— John Lydon

6. “I mean, the genuine roots of culture is folk music.”

— John Lydon

7. “I don’t tolerate liars. When somebody lies to me, that’s really, like, just unbearable.”

— John Lydon

8. “Sometimes the most positive thing you can be in a boring society is absolutely negative.”

— John Lydon

9. “Only the fakes survive.”

— John Lydon

10. “I’m no one’s lap dog, you can’t put me on a leash.”

— John Lydon

11. “Turn the other cheek too often and you get a razor through it.”

— John Lydon

12. “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

13. “There’s nothing glorious in dying. Anyone can do it.”

— John Lydon

14. “Remaining childish is a tremendous state of innocence.”

— John Lydon

15. “Words cannot express quite a lot of feelings, whereas a noise or tone or drone or sound, an accordion falling down a staircase, can somehow capture an emotion much better.”

— John Lydon

16. “I have one major problem with the Internet: It’s full of liars.”

— John Lydon

17. “I never thought of Green Day as a punk band. Just bubblegum, really.”

— John Lydon

18. “Situationism is a ludicrous proposition. It’s ill-formed and it’s perfectly French. That Gallic disposition towards common sense. L’Anarchie!”

— John Lydon

19. “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.”

— John Lydon

20. “My words are my bullets.”

— John Lydon

21. “I like crazy people, especially those who don’t see the risk.”

— John Lydon

22. “I don’t believe in anarchy, because it will ultimately amount to the power of the bully, with weapons. Gandhi is my life’s inspiration: passive resistance. I don’t want to live in the Thunderdome with Mad Max.”

— John Lydon

23. “I’m very open about my politics. I don’t believe in any political party at all, none of them.”

— John Lydon

24. “It’s no good being nice and young and naive. There’s no good in that at all. You’ve got to do it all yourself, and you’ve gotta learn quick. And you can’t look for sympathy either.”

— John Lydon

25. “One of the most beautiful things about Britain, apart from the NHS and the free education, is the British Army.”

— John Lydon

26. “You can’t arrest me, I’m a rockstar.”

— John Lydon

27. “Love is what you feel for a dog or a pussycat. It doesn’t apply to humans.”

— John Lydon

28. “You’ll find that empty vessels make the most sound.”

— John Lydon

29. “I had an Irish Catholic education. Horrible nuns, vindictive and cruel.”

— John Lydon

30. “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.”

— John Lydon

31. “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

32. “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.”

— John Lydon

33. “Rules are important, but they’re temporary and they’re always supposed to be changed.”

— John Lydon

34. “Any kind of history you read is basically the winning side telling you the others were bad.”

— John Lydon

35. “I don’t have any expensive habits. I’m not a car collector or any of that nonsense. But I’d love to be incredibly wealthy for no reason at all.”

— John Lydon

36. “The only good political movement I’ve seen lately was Occupy Wall Street. They had no leaders, which was genius. But unfortunately it always ends up with some hippy playing a flute.”

— John Lydon

37. “If you give me the chance, I’ll destroy America for you.”

— John Lydon

38. “I hate the technological rip-offs that pass for music formats these days, and go back to vinyl to hear a good record because the sound is always so much fuller. I don’t even like listening to music in the car.”

— John Lydon

39. “If you have something to say then you want someone to pay attention or at least to have the opportunity for them to tell you to shut up and go away.”

— John Lydon

40. “Music can describe emotions far more accurately than words ever can. As soon as I realised that, I knew music was where I wanted to be.”

— John Lydon

41. “I cannot comprehend fundamentalism. It’s fundamentally wrong.”

— John Lydon

42. “Just because people think politically different to you doesn’t mean they’re inhuman.”

— John Lydon

43. “It’s nice to be irritated. It’s a very joyous thing.”

— John Lydon

44. “I’ve done no harm to no one. In fact, I think I’ve improved the world.”

— John Lydon

45. “The only notes that matter come in a wad.”

— John Lydon

46. “Being born into the Royal Family is like being born into a mental asylum. Marrying into it is not something to be taken lightly.”

— John Lydon

47. “Freedom isn’t to do what you want at somebody else’s expense.”

— John Lydon

48. “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.”

— John Lydon

49. “Oscar Wilde turned the world upside down and was able to laugh at it, and hopefully by the time I’m 120 and worn out, that’s what I will achieve. I love being alive so much.”

— John Lydon

50. “I have no time for lies and fantasy, and neither should you. Enjoy or die...”

— John Lydon