I don't mind people putting us down, because if everybody really liked us, it would be a bore. You've got to have people putting you down. It doesn't give any edge to it if everybody just falls flat on their face saying, "You're great." We enjoy some of the criticisms as well, they're quite funny; some of the clever criticisms, not the ones that don't know anything, but some of the clever ones are quite fun." - Meaning and context.">
p. 120
“

I don't mind people putting us down, because if everybody really liked us, it would be a bore. You've got to have people putting you down. It doesn't give any edge to it if everybody just falls flat on their face saying, "You're great." We enjoy some of the criticisms as well, they're quite funny; some of the clever criticisms, not the ones that don't know anything, but some of the clever ones are quite fun.

— John Lennon

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I don't mind people putting us down, because if everybody really liked us, it would be a bore. You've got to have people putting you down. It doesn't give any edge to it if everybody just falls flat on their face saying, "You're great." We enjoy some of the criticisms as well, they're quite funny; some of the clever criticisms, not the ones that don't know anything, but some of the clever ones are quite fun." in the context of "p. 120" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "John Lennon" (Quotes, The Beatles Anthology (2000)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#John Lennon#criticisms#everybody#putting#clever#quite#dont#down#ones#anything#really#doesnt
John Lennon

About John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980), born John Winston Lennon, was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, political activist and founding member of The Beatles. His second wife was Yoko Ono. He was murdered in 1980.