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 JohnsonI 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 โroad,โ the infinite range of experience that always had to remain open to fuel his work.
Joyce Johnsonmedia saturation is probably very destructive to art. New movements get overexposed and exhausted before they have a chance to grow, and they turn to ashes in a short time. Some degree of time and obscurity is often very necessary to artists.
Joyce JohnsonEveryone knew in the 1950s why a girl from a nice family left home. The meaning of her theft of herself from her parents was clear to all - as well as what she'd be up to in that room of her own.
Joyce JohnsonWhat if you lived your entire life completely without urgency? You went to classes, you ate your meals, on Saturday nights a boy you didn't love took you to the movies; now and then you actually had a conversation with someone. The rest of the time -the hours that weren't accounted for-you spent waiting for something to happen to you; when you were particularly desperate, you went out looking for it.
Joyce Johnson