I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier.

One of the great joys of my writing life

has been the writing of 40 ways to look at Winston Churchill,

my short unconventional biography of Winston Churchill.

What a life! What a pleasure it was to write that book.

Part of what I loved so much about writing it

was the chance to read the work of Churchill himself.

In addition to everything else he did, he was such an extraordinary writer.

There's a passage that I love that I often go back to read

because it gives me the exquisite feeling of elevation.

One of the most beautiful and transcendent sources of happiness.

I feel such awe when I read it. I get choked up every time.

This passage is from the book Their Finest Hour,

the second volume in Churchill's sixth volume history of World War Two.

And he's describing a visit he made with his aid

to a very poor London neighborhood that has been devastated by the blitz

the bombing of London. And in case it's hard to tell what he means

when he refers to little Union jacks he means little British flags.

Churchill wrote,

already little pathetic Union jacks have been stuck up amid the ruins.

When my car was recognized the people came running from all quarters

and a crowd of more than a thousand was soon gathered.

...