Yoko Ono — a multifaceted artist and peace activist — has been a significant cultural figure for decades.
Known for her avant-garde art, music, and films, as well as her marriage to Beatles member John Lennon, Ono has always been a symbol of creativity and nonconformity.
Her work often challenges conventional boundaries and encourages audiences to engage with ideas of peace, love, and understanding in new and thought-provoking ways.
Ono’s quotes frequently reflect her unique perspective on life, art, and activism. They echo her beliefs in the power of imagination, the importance of individual expression, and the potential for art to bring about social change.
We’ve curated a collection of Yoko Ono’s quotes that encapsulate her spirit as an artist and activist.
Whether you’re an admirer of her work, interested in the intersections of art and activism, or seeking inspiration from influential cultural figures, Ono’s words are sure to enlighten and inspire.
The Best Quotes from Yoko Ono
Famous Quotes
“We are all dreamers creating the next world, the next beautiful world for ourselves and for our children.”
— Yoko Ono
“Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you’ll start to see a big difference in your life.”
— Yoko Ono
“Every moment in our lives is a miracle we should enjoy instead of ignoring.”
— Yoko Ono
“We change, and the world changes. Have trust in what you can do. Have trust in how fast we can change our world for the better.”
— Yoko Ono, on Instagram
“Every drop in the ocean counts.”
— Yoko Ono
“I trust myself. You need that to survive.”
— Yoko Ono
“I saw that nothing was permanent. You don’t want to possess anything that is dear to you because you might lose it.”
— Yoko Ono
“Healing yourself is connected with healing others.”
— Yoko Ono
“Send small pebbles to the world. Don’t make big splashes with large stones. That will attract people and the wrong people as well.”
— Yoko Ono, in a tweet
“What we do really affects the world. Most of us think we can’t do anything, but it really isn’t true.”
— Yoko Ono
“Words are power. And a book is full of words. Be careful what power you get from it. But know that you do.”
— Yoko Ono
“You change the world by being yourself.”
— Yoko Ono
“People are afraid of shadows. People are even more afraid of being in the shadow. But without a shadow, life will be two dimensional.”
— Yoko Ono
On Art
“Art is my life and my life is art.”
— Yoko Ono
“Experiencing sadness and anger can make you feel more creative, and by being creative, you can get beyond your pain or negativity.”
— Yoko Ono
“Art is a beautiful thing but art is not just creating something. People who think that are wrong. Everything is created already in the world. Nature created everything and you don't have to create anything anymore, so art then is just re-evaluating what is already there.”
— Yoko Ono
“I thought art was a verb, rather than a noun.”
— Yoko Ono
“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.”
— Yoko Ono
“Art is a mind game that we do to make our lives easier. If it isn’t for that, it becomes superfluous.”
— Yoko Ono
“Nothing is written in stone. So don’t prepare yourself for a long and lucrative career. You might die tomorrow. Your gold holdings might become dust. Just make the music you want to make now and enjoy it.”
— Yoko Ono
“Piano keys are flower petals turned hard.”
— Yoko Ono, Grapefruit: A Book of Instructions and Drawings
“True artists are prophets. I don’t want to be that prophetic in that sense because it’s so lonely.”
— Yoko Ono
“Everybody’s an artist. Everybody’s God. It’s just that they’re inhibited.”
— Yoko Ono
“People don’t remember each tree in a park but all of us benefit from the trees. And in a way, artists are like trees in a park.”
— Yoko Ono
“Art, for me, is about survival for my mind — like, if I don’t do these things, then I might become insane or something. So it helps you keep your sanity just to do it. You have to release your emotion in order to keep your sanity.”
— Yoko Ono, in an interview
“People make music to get a reaction. Music is communication.”
— Yoko Ono
“Art is a way of survival.”
— Yoko Ono
→ Read more quotes about creativity
On Love
“And the more you are active about something you love, the world is going to be a better place.”
— Yoko Ono
“Love is what it takes to fly”
— Yoko Ono
“There’s a long life ahead of you and it’s going to be beautiful, as long as you keep loving and hugging each other.”
— Yoko Ono
“Life with another person is always difficult.”
— Yoko Ono
“It is very difficult for us to know we love somebody because it is an insecure position to be in. But in the end, it is important to be honest about your love because life is not that long.”
— Yoko Ono
“When you are suffering, you become more understanding about yourself, but also about other people’s sufferings too. That’s the first step to understand somebody is to understand their sufferings. So then love follows.”
— Yoko Ono
“Marriage is a gamble, let’s be honest.”
— Yoko Ono
“Remember love. Remember our hearts are one. Even when we are fighting with each other, our hearts are beating in unison. I love you.”
— Yoko Ono
“Mirror becomes a razor when it’s broken. A stick becomes a flute when it’s loved.”
— Yoko Ono, Grapefruit
“The regret of my life is that I have not said I love you often enough.”
— Yoko Ono
On Peace
“World peace is one project that we have to do together.”
— Yoko Ono
“Let it be, and love and peace will grow from you and around you.”
— Yoko Ono, in a tweet
“Remember, each one of us has the power to change the world. Power works in mysterious ways. You don’t have to do much. Visualize the domino effect. And just start thinking peace. The message will circulate faster than you think. It’s Time For Action. The Action is peace. Spread the word. Spread peace.”
— Yoko Ono
“But only art and music have the power to bring peace.”
— Yoko Ono
“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.”
— Yoko Ono
“Remember, each one of us has the power to change the world. Just start thinking peace, and the message will spread quicker than you think.”
— Yoko Ono
“Nobody’s life is a bed of roses. We all have crosses to bear, and we all just do our best. I would never claim to have the worst situation. There are many widows, and many people dying of AIDS, many people killed in Lebanon, people starving all over the planet. So we have to count our lucky stars.”
— Yoko Ono
“Remember, we are all family. Think PEACE, Act PEACE, Spread PEACE, Imagine PEACE. Together, we will shift the axis of the world to PEACE.”
— Yoko Ono, on Instagram
“I admire all people who are trying to be a good power in this chaotic world.”
— Yoko Ono
→ Read more quotes about inner peace
→ Read more quotes about world peace
On Feminism
“Women are very intelligent and not appreciated. We try to pretend that we are not clever, and it’s such a pity that we can’t show how clever we are.”
— Yoko Ono
“The whole world is starting to realize that it was the most unwise thing for our society to have ignored women power, to run the society with male priorities.”
— Yoko Ono
“Women are put in a position of feeling embarrassed about their bodies. It’s so ridiculous, but also astounding — we have to always be apologetic about having created the human race.”
— Yoko Ono
“Women artists are still treated differently from men.”
— Yoko Ono
“I am proposing the feminization of society; the use of feminine nature as a positive force to change the world. We can change ourselves with feminine intelligence and awareness, into a basically organic, noncompetitive society that is based on love, rather than reasoning. The result will be a society of balance, peace and contentment. We can evolve rather than revolt, come together, rather than claim independence, and feel rather than think. These are characteristics that are considered feminine; characteristics that men despise in women. But have men really done so well by avoiding the development of these characteristics within themselves?”
— Yoko Ono, in an article
“There’s many women now who think, ‘Surely we don’t need feminism anymore, we’re all liberated and society’s accepting us as we are’. Which is just hogwash. It’s not true at all.”
— Yoko Ono
“I think that all women are witches, in the sense that a witch is a magical being. And a wizard, which is a male version of a witch, is kind of revered, and people respect wizards. But a witch, my god, we have to burn them. It’s the male chauvinistic society that we’re living in for the longest time, 3,000 years or whatever. And so I just wanted to point out the fact that men and women are magical beings. We are very blessed that way, so I’m just bringing that out. Don’t be scared of witches, because we are good witches, and you should appreciate our magical power.”
— Yoko Ono
“This society is driven by neurotic speed and force accelerated by greed and frustration of not being able to live up to the image of men and woman we have created for ourselves; the image has nothing to do with the reality of people.”
— Yoko Ono
“Women have become stronger, and there's a backlash. Men have become terribly possessive. I find it much easier to get on with women.”
— Yoko Ono
“Every woman has a song to sing
Every woman has a story to tell
Make no mistake about it
We women have the power to move mountains.”
— Yoko Ono, on Instagram
→ Read more quotes about feminism
Short Quotes
“You can be very wild and still be very wise.”
— Yoko Ono
“Listen to the sound of the earth turning.”
— Yoko Ono
“I have only one life, so I want to make sure it’s a good one.”
— Yoko Ono
“You have to break the mirror, but you also have to see the mirror. You have to have that dichotomy constantly.”
— Yoko Ono, in an interview
“Each time we don’t say what we wanna say, we’re dying.”
— Yoko Ono
“John wrote with a very deep love for the human race and a concern for its future.”
— Yoko Ono
“You may think I’m small, but I have a universe inside my mind.”
— Yoko Ono
“Some people are old at 18 and some are young at 90. Time is a concept that humans created.”
— Yoko Ono
“I don’t have a goal. I don’t limit myself to a goal.”
— Yoko Ono
“Please know that being 80 is not a scary thing. When you’re 80, your life is much freer.”
— Yoko Ono
“It’s better to dance than to march through life.”
— Yoko Ono
“I think of John every day. I do try to block it, but December 8th is not the only day I think of him.”
— Yoko Ono
“Grapefruit is a hybrid of lemon and orange. Snow is a hybrid of wish and lament.”
— Yoko Ono, Grapefruit
“My religion is to trust myself.”
— Yoko Ono
→ Read more short quotes
More Quotes
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream.
A dream you dream together is reality.”
— Yoko Ono, Grapefruit
“Sometimes I am happy and sometimes not. I am, after all, a human being, you know. And I am glad that we are sometimes happy and sometimes not. You get your wisdom working by having different emotions.”
— Yoko Ono
“When you are feeling bad
Do one thing a day
To make your heart dance.
It could be a simple thing like looking up at the sky.
Do something for somebody
To make his/her heart dance.
It could be a simple thing like giving a call.
Do this for a while and your life will change.”
— Yoko Ono, in a tweet
“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.”
— Yoko Ono
“We’re growing up together, the human race. And we’ve discovered a lot of things that we didn’t know. We’re finding our way. Instead of thinking about doomsday all the time, think about how beautiful the world is. We’re all together, and together we’re getting wiser.”
— Yoko Ono
“You should really be very careful what you wish for because you wish it and you think it’s never going to happen, and sometimes it takes some time but it does happen.”
— Yoko Ono, in an interview
“We’re all water from different rivers,
That’s why it’s so easy to meet,
We’re all water in this vast, vast ocean,
Someday we’ll evaporate together.”
— Yoko Ono
“The computer is my favorite invention. I feel lucky to be part of the global village. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m so fast with technology. People think it all seems too much, but we’ll get used to it. I’m sure it all seemed too much when we were learning to walk.”
— Yoko Ono
“Try to say nothing negative about anybody.
a) for three days
b) for forty-five days
c) for three months
See what happens to your life.”
― Yoko Ono
“The sky is always there for me, while my life has been going through many, many changes. When I look up the sky, it gives me a nice feeling, like looking at an old friend.”
— Yoko Ono
“Experiencing sadness and anger can make you feel more creative, and by being creative, you can get beyond your pain or negativity.”
— Yoko Ono
“Have the courage and strength to be yourself.
Because there is no other choice.
Do you have a choice of being somebody else?”
— Yoko Ono
“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.”
— Yoko Ono
“Come together, always together. I think that in the beginning there was a word and the word was love and love is what created the world. If love could create a world and the universe, then it could certainly heal the world. I think that this is a time that we should keep dancing with love.”
— Yoko Ono, in an interview
“I relate to happiness as an ecstatic moment — something you don’t create, you encounter.”
— Yoko Ono
→ Read more quotes about life
