Within a year or two, however, a couple of the first things I wrote – "Anarchy In The UK' and "God Save The Queen' – really hit their target. I'd like to thank the British public library system: that was my training ground, that's where I learned to throw those verbal grenades. I wasn't just throwing bricks through shop windows as a voice of rebellion, I was throwing words where they really mattered. Words count.

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Within a year or two, however, a couple of the first things I wrote – "Anarchy In The UK' and "God Save The Queen' – really hit their target. I'd like to thank the British public library system: that was my training ground, that's where I learned to throw those verbal grenades. I wasn't just throwing bricks through shop windows as a voice of rebellion, I was throwing words where they really mattered. Words count.

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I love American ski resorts because they're open to everyone, are not incredibly expensive. They're not snobby and you can have fun all day long on the most excellent mountains.

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I've had great pleasure meeting the likes of Newt Gingrich and having a chat with the fellow on a staircase. I found him completely dishonest and totally likeable, because he doesn't care! He knows what a politician is, and he's a perfect embodiment of one.

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I went to visit Alcatraz years ago when I was on tour with the Pistols, and I really liked the atmosphere of the place. I genuinely, really, thoroughly enjoyed the whole morning there. I just liked the quietness and stillness of what is basically a cruel prison complex. I still found some kind of joy in that. That's how I am.

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I've created several musical trends, really. That's not because I'm so far out and fabulous. It's because most bands have no ideas of their own. They're so desperate they'll grab at any old straw.

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Move to Italy. I mean it: they know about living in debt; they don't care. I stayed out there for five months while I was making a film called 'Order Of Death,' and they've really got it sussed. Nice cars. Sharp suits. Great food. Stroll into work at 10. Lunch from 12 till three. Leave work at five. That's living!

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You know, I've been to some superstars' houses, and I've been really disgusted when I see their platinum discs hanging in the toilet. They're just there on the walls glaring at you when you're trying to be occupied with other things.

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My entire life, socially, was all around the Maggie era. That was the great challenge as a Sex Pistol was how to deal with Margaret Thatcher. I think we did rather good.

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I'm sort of of the belief that people kill themselves from the inside out. When they're unhappy with what they're doing, or not achieving things - when your focus is off-kilter. The thing that keeps me ticking is my values. And I maintain them, because they're worthy. I like to wake up and feel I've done no wrong. I like that feeling.

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I've been asked over the years to compile a list of desert-island discs. I couldn't do that. If I was trapped on a desert island, I don't think I'd want 10 songs to bring with me.

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Remaining childish is a tremendous state of innocence.

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'Lollipop Opera' is the backdrop to Finsbury Park. A place that is very thriving, interracial and lot of music stores, Greek, Turkish, all sorts of immigrant music. It's utter Englishness. It blends the Jamaicans, the Irish. It's like what Jim Reeves did with American country music.

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I don't tolerate liars. When somebody lies to me, that's really, like, just unbearable.

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Americans being upright and forthright and honest and true to themselves is a very hard concept.

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I think I have something valid to say. My words are my bullets. I like to brag that somehow I got it right.

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You're made to feel ugly, and I made ugly beautiful. Just by sheer persistence. Nobody has the right to say that I am ugly, and I will not be a professional victim, you know. Sorry!

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When you come from desperate poverty, and that's exactly what I come from, you know that nonsenses are not to be tolerated. I'm not sure who gains from chaos, but I know it's not the poor folks in the council flats. The politics of vindictiveness is never, ever anything like a solution.

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I had an Irish Catholic education. Horrible nuns, vindictive and cruel.

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I hate the technological rip-offs that pass for music formats these days, and go back to vinyl to hear a good record because the sound is always so much fuller. I don't even like listening to music in the car.

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John Lydon

Books by John Lydon

Quotes by John Lydon