110 Beatles Quotes that Reach for a Better World

There is no band more iconic than The Beatles.

These Beatles quotes show the wisdom the band shared with the world during the troubled times of the 60s and 70s.

Their hope for a better world, a world that aspires for love and peace, still inspires us to be better people today. 

What made The Beatles so popular?

Not only were The Beatles one of the most influential musical bands of their time, they also used their platform as a world-wide sensation to actively in campaign for peace.

The words of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr still inspire us to live our lives with love, strive for peace, and to never extinguish the hope in our hearts. 

Here is our collection of Beatles quotes and sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years. 

Don’t forget to also read these wise Johnny Cash quotes on living a full life.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration. 

Our inspirational quote category page has even more inspirational and educational quotes.

Beatles quotes for dreamers

1. “Love is the answer and you know that for sure.” – John Lennon

2. “And, in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.” — The Beatles

3. “Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given, never forgotten, never let it disappear.” – John Lennon

4. “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” — John Lennon

5. “If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.” — John Lennon

6. “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done.” – The Beatles

7. “Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see” – The Beatles

8. “What we’ve got to do is keep hope alive. Because without it we’ll sink.” – John Lennon

9. “There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.” ― John Lennon

10. “I believe in yesterday.” – The Beatles

Beatles quotes about love

11. “There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance.” — John Lennon

12. “We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections.” — John Lennon

13. “If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create.” — John Lennon

14. “Love is like a flower, give it time and it will grow.” – John Lennon

15. “We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep on watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.” – John Lennon

16. “All you need is love.” — The Beatles

17. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.” – The Beatles

18. “I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?” — John Lennon

Beatles quotes about peace

19. “If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliché that must have been left behind in the 60s, that’s a problem. Peace and love are eternal.” — John Lennon

20. “We all have Hitler in us, but we also have love and peace. So why not give peace a chance for once?” – John Lennon

21. “When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.” – John Lennon

22. “And when the brokenhearted people living in the world agree there will be an answer, let it be.” – The Beatles

23. “I’m really glad that most of our songs were about love, peace and understanding.” – Paul McCartney

24. “Get out there and get peace, think peace, and live peace and breathe peace, and you’ll get it as soon as you like.” – John Lennon

25. “Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war-for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I’d say we deserve ours more.” – John Lennon

26. “I don’t believe in killing whatever the reason.” – John Lennon

Beatles quotes about hope

27. “Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” — John Lennon

28. “I am going into an unknown future, but I’m still all here, and still while there’s life, there’s hope.” – John Lennon

29. “Take these broken wings and learn to fly.” – The Beatles

Also read these epic Elvis Presley quotes that will have you singing “Hound Dog”

Beatles quotes about people

30. “I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird.” — Paul McCartney

31. “You can judge a man’s true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.” — Paul McCartney

32. “It doesn’t matter how long my hair is or what color my skin is or whether I’m a woman or a man.” – John Lennon

33. “If everyone could just be happy with themselves and the choices people around them make, the world would instantly be a better place!” – John Lennon

34. “You’re all geniuses, and you’re all beautiful. You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are. You are what you are.” — John Lennon

Beatles quotes about life

35. “It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now.” — George Harrison

36. “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” — John Lennon

37. “Nothing is real.” — John Lennon

38. “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans” – John Lennon

39. “Possession isn’t nine-tenths of the law its nine-tenths of the problem.” – John Lennon

40. “If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that… I believe in what I do, and I’ll say it.” — John Lennon

41. “When I was about twelve, I used to think I must be a genius, but nobody’s noticed. If there is such a thing as a genius…I am one, and if there isn’t, I don’t care.” – John Lennon

42. “I only had two alternatives. Give up or carry on.” – Paul McCartney

You might also like these Miles Davis quotes from a legendary figure in American music.

More Beatles quotes on life lessons

43. “I’ve never really done anything to create what has happened. It creates itself. I’m here because it happened. But I didn’t do anything to make it happen apart from saying ‘Yes’.” – Ringo Starr

44. “Nobody controls me. I’m uncontrollable. The only one who can control me is me, and that’s just barely possible.” – John Lennon

45. “You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!” — John Lennon

46. “And any time you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain. Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders.” – The Beatles

47. “Your own space, man, it’s so important. That’s why we were doomed because we didn’t have any. It is like monkeys in a zoo. They die. You know, everything needs to be left alone.” – George Harrison

48. “It’s all in the mind.” – George Harrison

49. “Time wounds all heels.” – John Lennon

50. “Music is like a psychiatrist. You can tell your guitar things that you can’t tell people. And it will answer you with things people can’t tell you.” – Paul McCartney

Don’t forget to also read our list of best BTS quotes from the platinum-selling South Korean boy band.

Short Beatles Quotes About Learning From Our Surroundings

51. “Doesn’t have a point of view / Doesn’t know where he’s going to / Isn’t he a bit like you and me?” ― The Beatles

52. “Everyone should have themselves regularly overwhelmed by nature.” ― George Harrison

53. “I really thought love would save us all.” ― John Lennon

54. “I’d like to end up sort of….  Unforgettable.” ― Ringo Starr

55. “Love is the greatest refreshment in life.” ― John Lennon

56. “Our friends called us the four- headed- muster because we were never apart.” ― Paul McCartney

57. “With every mistake, we must surely be learning.” ― George Harrison

58. “The Beatles saved the world from boredom.” ― George Harrison

59. “The thing is, we’re all really the same person.  We’re just four parts of one.” ― Paul McCartney

60. “Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” ― John Lennon

Beatles Quotes to Harmonize Life

61. “Life is very short, and there’s no time for fussing and fighting my friends.” — John Lennon

62. “None of us wanted to be the bass player. In our minds he was the fat guy who always played at the back.” — Paul McCartney

63. “I declare that The Beatles are mutants. Prototypes of evolutionary agents sent by God, endowed with a mysterious power to create a new human species, a young race of laughing freemen.” — Timothy Leary

64. “Everybody loves you when you’re six foot in the ground.” — John Lennon

65. “If children are studying the 20th century, I’m in their text books.” — Paul McCartney

66. “We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity.” — John Lennon

67. “Oooh I get by with a little help from my friends.” — Joe Cocker

68. “The more I see, the less I know.” — Michael Franti

69. “As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot.” — John Lennon

70. “Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.” — John Lennon

Iconic Beatles Quotes that Resonate Through the Ages

71. “I declare that The Beatles are mutants.” — Timothy Leary

72. “It was Elvis who really got me hooked on beat music. When I heard ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ I thought, this is it.” — Paul McCartney

73. “Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you, Tomorrow I’ll miss you.” — Paul McCartney

74. “Somebody said to me, ‘But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.’ That’s a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now, let’s write a swimming pool.'” — Paul McCartney

75. “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.” — John Lennon

76. “I think people who create and write, it actually does flow-just flows from into their head, into their hand, and they write it down. It’s simple.” — Paul McCartney

77. “Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery in my mind wasn’t insanity. Surrealism to me is reality.” — John Lennon

78. “I hope someday you will join us and the world will live as one.” — John Lennon

79. “We were all on this ship in the sixties, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World. And the Beatles were in the crow’s nest of that ship.” — John Lennon

80. “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.” — John Lennon

Timeless Wisdom from Beatles Quotes

81. “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” ― John Lennon

82. “You say goodbye, and I say hello.” ― Paul McCartney

83. “It’s getting better all the time.” ― Paul McCartney

84. “All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” ― George Harrison

85. “We can work it out.” ― Paul McCartney

86. “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better.” ― Paul McCartney

87. “There are places I remember all my life, though some have changed.” ― Paul McCartney

88. “With our love, we could save the world.” ― George Harrison

89. “It’s only love, and that is all.” ― John Lennon

90. “I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in, and stops my mind from wandering where it will go.” ― Paul McCartney

Exploring The Beatles Quotes and Insights

91. “I’ve got to admit it’s getting better, a little better all the time.” ― Paul McCartney

92. “We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun.” ― John Lennon

93. “Love, love me do. You know I love you.” ― Paul McCartney

94. “I get high with a little help from my friends.” ― John Lennon

95. “And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me.” ― Paul McCartney

96. “Take a sad song and make it better.” ― Paul McCartney

97. “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.” ― Paul McCartney

98. “We were just a band that made it very, very big; that’s all.” ― George Harrison

99. “It’s a beautiful night for a walk on the beach.” ― Paul McCartney

100. “There’s nothing you can say that hasn’t been said.” ― John Lennon

101. “If there hadn’t been an Elvis, there wouldn’t have been the Beatles.” ― John Lennon

102. “Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.” ― John Lennon

103. “I think I’m supposed to “take a sad song and make it better,” but that’s beyond my musical ability” ― Sophia Bennett

104. “imagine a world without people.” ― John Lennon

105. “Even if it’s being a Beatle for the rest of my life, it’s still only a temporary thing.” ― George Harrison

106. “You can’t keep quiet about anything that’s going on in the world, unless you’re a monk. Sorry, monks! I didn’t mean it!” ― John Lennon

107. “And I’ve realized that the Beatles got it wrong. Love isn’t all we need- love is all there is.” ― Morgan Matson

108. “Love is all you need.” ― Beatles

109. “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” ― Paul McCartney

110. “Whatever gets you through the night.” ― John Lennon

Do these Beatles quotes inspire you to live life with love?

In their lyrics, The Beatles sang about love, hope, and their observations of life during the 60s and 70s.

While their lyrics ranged from deep to nonsensical, their words still impact music listeners of today.

These Beatles quotes reflect their efforts to make the world a better place.

As The Beatles said, all you need is love.

The world would be a better place if we all live with a little more love in our hearts.

Use these quotes to inspire you to live life with love and do your part to bring a little more peace on earth. 

Did you enjoy these Beatles quotes and lyrics?

Which quote is your favorite?

Do you have a favorite quote that we didn’t mention?

Let us know in the comment section below.