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Creativity Quote by Yoko Ono

"Marriage is a gamble, let's be honest"

About this Quote

“Marriage is a gamble, let’s be honest” lands like a shrug that’s also a dare. Yoko Ono isn’t selling romance; she’s puncturing the fantasy that marriage is a tidy contract with guaranteed returns. The phrase “a gamble” does two jobs at once: it admits desire (you don’t gamble on things you don’t want) and it foregrounds risk (you can do everything “right” and still lose). Then she tags it with “let’s be honest,” a quick pivot from sentiment to candor that positions anyone clutching a fairytale as slightly unserious.

The subtext is pointed: love isn’t just an emotion, it’s a decision made under uncertainty, in public, with consequences. Coming from Ono, the line also carries the weight of a cultural biography. Her marriage to John Lennon wasn’t merely personal; it was a global spectacle, litigated by fans, media, and politics. When your relationship becomes a headline and a scapegoat, “gamble” stops being metaphor and starts sounding like a practical assessment of what it costs to choose someone anyway.

As an artist, Ono has long worked in the space where vulnerability meets provocation. This quote has that same minimalist edge: plain language, no ornament, a little abrasive on purpose. It invites a more adult romanticism - not cynicism, but clear-eyed commitment that doesn’t confuse a vow with a warranty.

Quote Details

TopicMarriage
Source
Verified source: YOKO ONO: ABOUT.COM INTERVIEW (Yoko Ono, 2008)
Text match: 95.00%   Provider: Cross-Reference
Evidence:
So if two people love each other so much that they want to get married, I mean marriage is a gamble, let’s be honest, I think they should be able to do it.. This wording appears in an interview transcript credited to DJ Ron Slomowicz (About.com) and republished on Yoko Ono Lennon’s official IMAGINE PEACE site, dated August 28, 2008. I could verify the quote in that primary-context transcript (i.e., Ono speaking in an interview), but I did not find an accessible archival copy of the original About.com page itself to prove whether it was first published there earlier than Aug 28, 2008, or whether the IMAGINE PEACE repost is the earliest publication date. Many quote-aggregator sites repeat the sentence without source details; those are not primary sources.
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Ono, Yoko. (2026, March 2). Marriage is a gamble, let's be honest. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/marriage-is-a-gamble-lets-be-honest-3867/

Chicago Style
Ono, Yoko. "Marriage is a gamble, let's be honest." FixQuotes. March 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/marriage-is-a-gamble-lets-be-honest-3867/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Marriage is a gamble, let's be honest." FixQuotes, 2 Mar. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/marriage-is-a-gamble-lets-be-honest-3867/. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.

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Marriage is a Gamble, Let's Be Honest by Yoko Ono
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About the Author

Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono (born February 18, 1933) is a Artist from USA.

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