John: "When people go to rehab and come out, they go through a difficult period, a lot of people. I never had that. I was so glad to be rid of all that crap that for me, to learn again and to function as a human being and learn how to participate in the human race again was just pure joy."

John: "The whole point of being in this business and being blessed and being successful is that you're able to do things for your friends or your family, which means that they can have something special in their lives, too."

John: "I have an optimistic view of everything. You have to, otherwise you'd go nuts."

John: “Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays. From my point of view, I would ban religion completely. Organized religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it’s not really compassionate.”

John: "I'm going to fight for human rights, whether I do it silently behind the scenes or vocally so that I get locked up. I can't just sit back; it's not in my nature. I can't sit back and blindly ignore it, and I won't."

John: "That's just a part of being an artist: you can't write great stuff all the time, because if you did, then you'd be inhuman. The human side of people is that sometimes they fail."

John: "Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours."

John: “I love places that have an incredible history. I love the Italian way of life.”

John: "Instead of more violence why isn't there a [meeting of religious leaders]. It's all got to be dialogue - that's the only way. Get everybody from each religion together and say 'Listen, this can't go on. Why do we have all this hatred?'"

John: "Sometimes when I’m flying over the Alps I think, 'that’s like all the cocaine I sniffed.'"

John: “When stars collide, like you and I, no shadow blocks the sun.”

John: "How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic'. And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF - a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfill their dream of having children, your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again."

John: "It's very important to have two tiaras when you're on the road. You never know when you'll be invited to something really formal."

John: "From the start, I've always admired Eminem's thinking. That's the reason I wanted to appear on the Grammys with him when I was asked. Eminem has the balls to say what he feels and to make offensive things funny. That's very necessary today in America, with people being muzzled and irony becoming a lost art. Artists like Eminem who use their free speech to get a point across are vitally important. There just aren't many people in the world with balls that big and talent that awesome."

John: "Better to build a bridge than a wall."

John: "The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion? Why aren't they having a conclave; why aren't they coming together?"

John: "I used to take hostages in my relationships and not let people be independent. It always ended in disaster, because you take away people's identity and they end up full of resentment."

John: "If you write great songs with meaning and emotion, they will last for ever because songs are the key to everything."

John: "I love the idea of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the beautiful stories about it, which I loved in Sunday school and I collected all the little stickers and put them in my book. But the reality is that organized religion doesn't seem to work. It turns people into hateful lemmings and it's not really compassionate."

John: "I really appreciate my performing so much better, as I get older. I don't take it for granted anymore. I really relish it and love it."

John: "I think people should be free to engage in any sexual practices they choose; they should draw the line at goats, though."

John: "George W. Bush was passionate about AIDS. And we had a 10-minute talk at the interval of a concert at the Kennedy Center about AIDS. And I was astonished about how well-informed he was and his commitment to AIDS. And so it's the typical thing of don't judge a book by its cover until you have read the book."

John: "I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems."

John: "There's a lot of hate in the world."