✦ The man behind the words ✦

About Ken Johnson

Just Saying… Words From the Heart and Soul

"While many of these sayings I have heard and lived alongside others over the years, most of them are actually my own. I'm not the author of every single one — some are unknown to me, and some I may never be able to trace. But the heart of this collection, the bulk of it, came from me. I wrote it all down so it wouldn't be lost. I hope it does for you what it's done for me."

The people who love him most said: write it down. Those people include his wife Judy of 55 years, his son Jason and fabulous son-in-law Jordan, his daughter Lindsey and his very special daughter-in-love Leesa — who is like a second daughter — and grandchildren Ella Ryan, Caroline, Cade, Boots, and Campbell.

And to the many friends and colleagues along the way who shaped these pages without ever knowing it — thank you. This book belongs to all of you as much as it belongs to him.

These are my beliefs, shaped by how I was raised. You won't agree with all of them — and that's alright. I'm not asking you to. I'm just saying.

These sayings didn't come from a library. They came from sales floors and boardrooms, from friendships built over decades, from failures that taught more than any success ever could, and from the valleys that make the mountaintop worth standing on.

Ken has spent a lifetime watching people — what makes them quit, what makes them rise, what makes them laugh when things are hard, and what makes them show up again the next morning. He paid attention. He remembered. And eventually, the people who love him most said: write it down.

So he did.

This collection isn't about perfection. It never was. It's about honesty — the kind that makes you stop scrolling, put your phone down for a second, and think about something that actually matters.

Some of these will make you laugh. Some will make you uncomfortable. Some will find you at exactly the right moment and feel like they were written just for you. That's the whole point.

Ken lives by the belief that everybody wants to talk about what's wrong with the world. He'd rather talk about what's right with it — and remind people that the best thing they'll ever do, they probably haven't done yet.

"I don't know a lot of big fancy words — but I do know a few small simple truths." That's Ken Johnson. And that's this book.

Ken Johnson
Just Saying… Words From the Heart and Soul
"My grammar may not be perfect — but my message is sincere."
— Ken Johnson

Read the Sayings. Share the Stories.

Everything Ken has learned — 160+ sayings, organized and ready for you.