Best 284 quotes of Yoko Ono on MyQuotes

I always believed that my work should be unfinished in the sense that I encourage people to add their creativity to it, either conceptually or physically. Back in the 1960s, I was calling for 'Unfinished Music,' number one, and number two, with my artwork - I was taking unfinished work into the gallery. And that's how I was looking at it.

I always thought that I was an important musician. If you don't have that confidence, why would you go on and do it?

I am aware of the sufferings of women in India, which is also the suffering of women in many, many countries on our planet. My heart is filled with empathy and love for them.

I am extremely rebellious. I have this strong, defiant spirit.

I am the type of person who would do something thoroughly if someone said, "I don't think you can do it." I am extremely rebellious. I have this strong, defiant spirit.

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.

I don't really believe in going with somebody to have tea and chat. I don't do that. It's just a waste of time.

I don't think you make a choice to be an artist. There was no decision for me. I've been expressing myself this way since I can remember.

I don't think you should always stay calm in a tense situation, because you might not ever confront the problem. Maybe it's better to actually let yourself be tense - and find a solution.

I don't work for a long time on anything. I don't have too much time in life.

If a woman writes about a domestic situation, everyone automatically assumes that it's about her.

I feel sad that he's just a voice now.

If I hear dance music, my body starts to move. Whatever the dance music is, I can't help it. With all that, I still felt, well, rock is a little higher art, but it wasn't. Right now, because I have so much experience with dance charts, I started to realize that it's incredible art. This is going to be known one day as high art.

If I was a Jewish girl in Hitler's day, I would become his girlfriend. After ten days in bed, he would come to my way of thinking.

If someone is unpleasant to you, draw a halo around his or her head in your mind. He/she is an angel who came to teach you something.

If you have a slave around the house how can you expect to make a revolution outside it? The problem for women is that if we try to be free, then we naturally become lonely, because so many women are willing to become slaves, and men usually prefer that.

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.

If your judgement is clouded, you must be carrying too many things which are being a burden to you.

If your life changes, we can change the world, too.

I get very nervous before I get on the stage, but once I'm on the stage, I'm just, you know, me. Nothing hurts me.

I get very sad when I think about Vietnam where there seems to be no choice but violence. This violence goes on for centuries perpetuating itself.

I have been known as the minimal and conceptual artist for over five decades. I think I haven't changed much.

I have the outsider's vision, which is creating wisdom I can share with the world. The fact that I am misunderstood has always given me an added impetus to work on communication to bridge the gap.

I have to be pretty inclusive. I have to be pretty much inside of me rather than going out and finding out what people are doing. I don't have the time to. I just listen to my mind, in a way.

I just go with the flow, so any style can be in my music - that makes it exciting.

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.

I love to work. Doing things we love is how we relax, I think.

Imagine a dolphin dancing in the sky. Let it dance with joy. Think of yourself at the bottom of the ocean watching.

Imagine painting all the statues in the world in the color of the sky

Imagine the clouds dripping Dig a hole in your garden to put them in

I'm a very obsessive type. If I do get into it, I'll soon be there 12 hours a day. I just don't want to do that.

I'm into indie music. I think indie is going to bring back the spirit in music. There was a time when it was all about accommodating the music business, the music was getting tasteless, but the spirit is back.

I'm kind of honored to be a dragon lady. The dragon is a very powerful, mythical animal.

I'm not giving any guidance, OK. I mean, you know, mothers are not supposed to give guidance, right? Anyway, so he's [Sean] doing his own thing.

I'm not the kind of woman who would love to make soup or knit sweaters. I never cherished that so much.

I'm very thankful that I can make people happy just by signing my name.

In a way the new music showed things could be transformed by new channels of communication.

Indie music is 'it' now. It's kind of a revolution to the music: 1980s, 1990s music was getting very sanitized; they were complying with the music industry. Music was getting more and more dead in a way. Now, because of the social climate that's very severe, the artists are compelled to start being real. It's really great that indie music is now.

I never thought, "I'm going to be an artist". When I actually began to become successful in the art world I made it a point to say, 'I am a dilettante, I am not a professional artist", which is true.

I never wanted to be a professional artist; I think that's limiting.

I never want projects to be finished; I have always believed in unfinished work. I got that from Schubert, you know, the 'Unfinished Symphony.'

In the '60s, people were still very protective of each field that they belonged to. Avant-garde artists didn't know about rock or pop or jazz. And the jazz people of course didn't want to know about any other music. They were all just kind of protecting their territory.

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?

In the present age when communication is so rapid, we should create a different tradition, traditions are created everyday. Five years now is like 100 years before. We are living in a society that has no history. There’s no precedent for this kind of society so we can break the old patterns.

In the Second World War, I was a little girl. I was evacuated in my country.

I often wish my mother had died so that at least I could get some people's sympathy. But there she was, a perfectly beautiful mother.

I realized that an artist seeking to tell the truth in her art takes great courage. I recognize the courage required to bring children together from Israeli and Palestinian communities to find commonality in music as a very powerful and effective beginning towards Peace.

I realized that if my thoughts immediately affect my body, I should be careful about what I think. Now if I get angry, I ask myself why I feel that way. If I can find the source of my anger, I can turn that negative energy into something positive.

I really feel that artists or musicians are controversial people. Controversy is part of the nature of art and creativity. If people are not doing that, they're not artists - they're artisans.

I saw that nothing was permanent. You don't want to possess anything that is dear to you because you might lose it.