“Johnny almost grinned as he nodded. "Tuff enough," he managed, and by the way his eyes were glowing, I figured Southern gentlemen had nothing on Johnny Cade.”

“Do not despair.........For Johnny-head-in-air;He sleeps as sound.....As Johnny underground.Fetch out no shroud....For Johnny-in-the-cloud;And keep your tears....For him in after years.Better by far..........For Johnny-the-bright-star,To keep your head......And see his children fed.”

“The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. The problem isn't even that Johnny can't think. The problem is that Johnny doesn't know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.”

“Asleep, he looked a lot younger than going-on-seventeen, but I had noticed that Johnny looked younger when he was asleep too, so I figured everyone did. Maybe people are younger when they are asleep.”

“Then he closed his eyes and put his hands together again before his face, finger to finger. Johnny was struck by the kid's lack of pretension. There was a simplicity about the gesture that had been honed by use into beauty.”

“He works for the CIA. Johnny Redyellow is his name, but I just simply call him Agent Orange.”