People expect Janis Joplin to be a tough bitch, and say I start talking to them like a lonely little girl-that's not in their image of me-they don't see it. Say you meet somebody you've heard about, you don't ever see them, you don't see who they are and who they need to be recognized as, you see who you need them to be.

The reason we're successful, darling? My overall charisma, of course.

I'm a very emotional person, a person of real extremes, and that's often destructive both to myself and others.

Excess is part of my nature. Dullness is a disease.

I am a romantic, but I do put up a barrier around myself, so it is hard for people to get in and to know the real me.

I really need danger and excitement. I'm never scared of putting myself out on a limb.