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    Shockingly Cocky Quotes: No. 3

    • Posted   by Spinner Staff
    • Comments (224)
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    "We're more popular than Jesus now."
    -- John Lennon

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    Download John Lennon on iTunes | Buy The Beatles Albums
    • Filed under: The Hit List
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    Reader Comments(1 of 12)

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    sarah nemoat 2-26-2008

    you've got this "cocky quote" all wrong. john lennon was saying it disparagingly - he thought it sad that modern age had made "stars" more present in peoples minds than their spirituality, boneheads.

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    G3M1N1at 10-08-2008

    Yea I do remember that I agree with you they twisted this quote

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    Dacheranat 10-08-2008

    People should realize by now that they're twisting at least like... half of these, out of context.

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    Kevinat 8-03-2009

    Thanks Sarah, well said.
    This one and the R.E.M. quote...I am pleasantly surprised to see that most everyone knows they were taken out of context.

    vote downvote upReportHigh Ranked

    DAvidat 8-27-2009

    JOhn was implying, we are just a band, we are nothing else, so stop worshipping us like Jesus. I am sure that John and George were most welcome with their Lord.

    vote downvote upReportLowest Ranked

    snpal21at 2-26-2008

    who is he?

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    cheyanneat 7-12-2008

    R u serious? u dont know who john lennon is?? He is a rock legend!!!!!

    vote downvote upReportLowest Ranked

    vrbabls2at 10-08-2008

    What he is, is overated

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    SIXXat 10-08-2008

    WHO IS HE? Bet ya don't know who God is either. A 5 year old would even know who John Lennon is. And while I think his quote was just a little uh ... well hell his quote about the Beatles wasn't as bad as everyone wanted to make it out to be. Geeeeeez, I mean you ARE talking about the Beatles after all .....

    vote downvote upReportLowest Ranked

    Darrylat 10-08-2008

    The Beatles were really overrated.. only liked Strawberry Fields Forever and Let It Be and that was not due to the original versions, but Across The Universe. On the other hand, John Lennon by himself pretty cool! Additionally, this quote really goes down in history. Nobody will ever forget it, It reated mega controversy, and furthermore The Beatles as much records as they sold will never be bigger than JESUS?? like come on guy, it's JESUS... as comments above prove... everyone knows of him. John Lennon.. not really. (especially those of a younger generation)

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    mollyat 10-08-2008

    My 8 year old son knew who John Lennon was when he was like 4!! Jeez, read up. You don't need to like him but at least know who he was and what he stood for.

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    spinnerglordat 2-26-2008

    @sarah nemo:

    Here's John Lennon's full quote, as it appeared in the Evening Standard (London), March 4, 1966:

    "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

    If that's not the sine qua non of cockiness, then we're as big boneheads as you have judged us to be without you taking in the full context of his quote yourself.

    Hugs,
    Your Friendly Neighborhood Spinner Editor

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHigh Ranked

    Norma LaDonisat 5-18-2009

    THANK YOU...and Lennon too

    vote downvote upReportNeutral

    John tooat 8-27-2009

    Seems to me history is proving him right, just as he said. Rock and roll, is definitely dying and Christianity is becoming illegal in a country that was founded purely to be able to practice Christianity without government interference. Isn't it ironic?

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    Asheat 2-28-2008

    Why is it not surprising that the same person who said Avril Lavigne is a "sexi punk," doesn't know who John Lennon is.

    Reply
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    TSrocks995at 8-11-2008

    I agree. the beatles were, are and always will be one of the best rock bands of all time.

    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    charlie6385at 2-28-2008

    The outrage that came towards the Beatles when John Lennon said this makes me surprised it wasn't #1.

    Reply
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    Beccaat 2-28-2008

    did you SERIOUSLY ask who John Lennon was? One of the four members of the Beatles? Got shot by a guy who was convinced that the book "Catcher in the Rye" told him to kill famous people? He has his own special memorial thingie in Central Park. That man is my hero.

    Reply
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    Poison freakat 2-29-2008

    John is cool. :-)

    Reply
    vote downvote upReportHighest Ranked

    Ophelia Eastonat 3-01-2008

    John didn't say they were BIGGER than Jesus. He said they were MORE POPULAR. There is a difference. Frankly, he's not wrong. Millions, or maybe even billions, of people were buying Beatles records and listening to them everyday. The radiostations played them quite frequently. Now how many of those people went to church and listened to the word of the lord?
    There were more people listening to the Beatles instead of listening to the words of Jesus. The media helped them get publicized greatly. There was no media at the time Christianity became popular. Between the media and Beatlemania, John was right. The Beatles had become MORE POPULAR than Jesus.

    Reply
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