John S. Johnson > Quotes

“Maybe he showed up because I needed him, not just for play, but to shield me from another voice entirely. Maybe Colonel O'Truth was a product of protection from the terrifying God I encountered at the Catholic church in the form of statues and crucifixes, or the stories my grandmother and mother were always telling me about how He was going to punish me if I misbehaved. Regardless of where he came from, the Colonel was a comforting voice.”
― John S. Johnson, Breaking Building Belonging: Why the Voices We Follow Matter

“This duet was my soundtrack. What my grandmother would call a ‘poor pearl’ mindset—always careful to overly dramatize the phrase and make ‘poor’ sound more like ‘paw’ before drawing out the ‘purl’ in her trademark Brooklyn/Italian drawl. Somewhere, Sergeant Stunod was rubbing his hands together, maniacally watching me slip into his shadow world. He could taste victory with each ‘poor purl’ I added to the string I was tripping over.
— Chapter One: Mosquitos | Miseries | Mindsets, p. 18”
― John S. Johnson, Breaking Building Belonging: Why the Voices We Follow Matter