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I've had cocaine, but I don't like it. The Beatles had lots of it in their day, but it's a dumb drug, because you have to have another one 20 minutes later. Your whole concentration goes on getting the next fix. Really, I find caffeine is easier to deal with. ... A little mushroom or peyote is not beyond my scope, you know, maybe twice a year or something. You don't hear about it anymore, but people are still visiting the cosmos. We must always remember to thank the CIA and the Army for LSD. That's what people forget. ... They invented LSD to control people and what they did was give us freedom. Sometimes it works in mysterious ways its wonders to perform.

John Lennon#27

HistoryAddictionControlDrugsFreedomIrony

About this quote

What does it mean?
Lennon admits to drug use but prefers caffeine, noting that while LSD was invented for control, it gave people freedom.
In plain terms
He finds drugs too demanding and sees an irony in how a control tool became a freedom tool.
What can you take from it?
Sometimes attempts to control people accidentally set them free.

Where it applies

  • discussing drugs
  • comparing substances
  • reflecting on history

Putting it to work

  • question authority motives
  • find safer alternatives

Questions to consider

  • Did LSD actually free people?
  • Is caffeine better than drugs?

Another view

Romanticizing drug use can obscure real health risks and addiction.

More from John Lennon

  1. Part of me suspects that I'm a loser and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty.

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  2. In England, there are only two things to be, basically: You are either for the labor movement or for the capitalist movement. Either you become a right-wing Ar…

    Permalink to quote #28
  3. Where do people get off saying the Beatles should give $200,000,000 to South America? You know, America has poured billions into places like that. It doesn't m…

    Permalink to quote #25

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