I became intent on saving him through showing him that he was loved.

— Joyce Johnson

I'd learned myself by the age of sixteen that just as girls guarded their virginity, boys guarded something less tangible which they called Themselves.

— Joyce Johnson

I was always aware that Jack loved women not only for their bodies but for the stories that came into being as they interacted with him--they were part of his "road," the infinite range of experience that always had to remain open to fuel his work.

— Joyce Johnson