“When I write, there are times — not always — when I hear John (Lennon) in my head, I’ll think, OK, what would we have done here?, and I can hear him gripe or approve.”

In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

I have not practiced how to be a singer without an instrument.

Being in the audience actually looks like quite a lot of fun.

Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you, Tomorrow I’ll miss you.

It’s also not unusual for writers to look backward. Because that’s your pool of resources.

I believe that in the future meditation could be as commonplace in schools and society as eco-awareness is now. It interests me that an ancient cure may be the solution to a modern problem.

What I have to say is all in the music. If I want to say anything, I write a song.

A lot of artists use memories. A lot of prose writers, a lot of poets, a lot of songwriters, refer back to something. Generally it’s all you’ve got, unless you’re brilliant and can write totally in the now.

The good Lord made this world and everything that’s in it. The way I see it, baby, you got to love it to the limit.

I still believe that love is all you need. I don’t know a better message than that.

It’s a lifelong gift, something you can call on at any time.

A hundred years from now, people will listen to the music of the Beatles the same way we listen to Mozart.

I like most kinds of music. So I haven’t got a bag, as they say. Except the big black one in the hall outside.

When I see bacon, I see a pig, I see a little friend, and that’s why I can’t eat it. Simple as that.

The best thing I ever saw was a man who loved his wife.

Trumpets are a bit more adventurous; they’re drunk! Trumpeters are generally drunk. It wets their whistle.

Abstinence is approved of God.

I am dragged along by a strange new force. Desire and reason are pulling in different directions. I see the right way and approve it, but follow the wrong.

I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know they do not approve, and what they approve I do not know.

I try more and more to be myself, caring relatively little whether people approve or disapprove.

I would love to have an ocean of love right now. That said, the number-one rule of acting is, ‘Do not seek approval from the audience.’ People don’t realize that. You can’t do stuff to get applause. You have to live in the truth.

A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives – of approving of some and disapproving of others.

It doesn’t matter who likes you or doesn’t like you, all that matters is that God likes you. He accepts you, he approves of you.

I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.