Remembering John Lennon's best quotes 36 years after The Beatles legend's death

Lennon was shot and killed on 8 December 1980 at the age of 40.

Fans of The Beatles are remembering iconic singer John Lennon today (8 December) on the 36th anniversary of his death. The Imagine singer was shot and killed outside his Manhattan apartment on this December day in 1980 sending reverberations around the pop world that are still felt today.

Surviving Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have yet to publicly acknowledge the date but Lennon's widow Yoko Ono has celebrated his memory on Twitter, by writing: "Together let's bring back America, the green land of peace. The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 36 years we still miss him."

The Liverpudlian icon remains a revered and beloved figure in music culture and to commemorate him, IBTimes UK remembers the singer's most famous quotes.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono — Yoko Ono admits she still misses her late husband John Lennon 36 years after his death Keystone Features / Getty

36 John Lennon quotes

1. "If there's such a thing as genius — I am one. And if there isn't, I don't care"

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

3. "Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it"

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

5. "As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot"

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

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

8. "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"

9. "Before Elvis there was nothing"

10. "I believe in everything until it's disproved"

11. "Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground"

12. "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"

13. "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans"

14. "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination"

15. "I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity"

16. "When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me.' You just scream"

17. "Everything is clearer when you're in love"

18. "I don't believe in killing whatever the reason"

19. "The more I see the less I know for sure"

20. "Happiness is just how you feel when you don't feel miserable"

21. "You have to be a bastard to make it, and that's a fact"

22. "God is a concept by which we measure our pain"

23. "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"

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

25. "It's better to fade away like an old soldier than to burn out"

26. "I don't believe in yesterday, by the way"

27. "Art is only a way of expressing pain"

28. "Everything is as important as everything else"

29. "You don't need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are"

30. "Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted"

31. "I'm not really a career person; I'm a gardener, basically"

32. "It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it matters only that you love"

33. "A mistake is only an error, it becomes a mistake when you fail to correct it"

34. "I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life"

35. "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"