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. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.

love fear acceptance fearlessness

About John Lennon

Portrait of John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician, songwriter and activist. He gained global fame as the founder of the Beatles, in which he was the co-lead vocalist and played rhythm guitar, later adopting lead and bass guitar, keyboards...

More quotations from John Lennon

Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.

reality imagination

Everything is clearer when you're in love.

Love is the flower you've got to let grow.

Songwriting is about getting the demon out of me. It's like being possessed. You try to go to sleep, but the song won't let you. So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you're allowed to sleep. It's always in the middle of the bloody night, or when you're half awake or tired, when your critical faculties are switched off. So letting go is what the whole game is.

writing music letting go sleep night

Would those of you in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry.

More quotations tagged with “fearlessness”

Fearless" is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.

fear fearlessness

Fearlessness is the first requisite of spirituality. Cowards can never be moral.

—Mahatma Gandhi

spirituality fear cowardice morality fearlessness

The only reason that we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes.

—Pema Chödrön

others clear-seeing perspective hearts compassion eyes confidence fearlessness sanity confusion minds

Acknowledging fear is not a cause for depression or discouragement. Because we possess such fear, we also are potentially entitled to experience fearlessness. True fearlessness is not the reduction of fear; but going beyond fear.

—Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

fear potential knowledge depression fearlessness courage transcending

History

25 Jun 2013 Added