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Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Little Happier: Why We Should Be Polite to the Person Sitting Next to Us on the Airplane.

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Education, Health & Fitness, Self-improvement

4.713K Ratings

🗓️ 9 March 2020

⏱️ 2 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A story about Dick Bass and Neil Armstrong was a great illustration of an aphorism I wrote recently: Modestly and good manners can save us from a lot of embarrassment. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft Get the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletter Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.com Leave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336 For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, and Happier in Hollywood. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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

0:03.8

As I have mentioned many times, I love proverbs, coons, secrets of adulthood, paradoxes,

0:09.3

parables, fables, and teaching stories of all kinds.

0:13.2

And as part of this I've collected aphorisms for years, and I've started writing my own

0:17.9

aphorisms.

0:18.9

I've noticed that occasionally I'll write an aphorism that strikes me as very powerful,

0:24.8

but I realize that without an illustration, it might not make much of an impression

0:29.4

on other people.

0:30.4

I'll give you an example.

0:33.3

Here's my aphorism.

0:36.0

Modesty and good manners can save us from a lot of embarrassment.

0:40.6

Take a second to decide what you think that means.

0:43.1

Now I'll tell you a story to illustrate it.

0:47.0

This is a story about Dick Bass.

0:49.2

Dick Bass was the son of a Texas oil baron.

0:52.0

He was a ski resort entrepreneur and he often went on ambitious mountain climbing expeditions.

0:57.6

His achievements included being the first person to climb the highest peak on each of

1:01.8

the seven continents, as well as being the oldest person to climb Mount Everest at the age

1:07.1

of 55.

1:08.6

He was a guy with a big life and a big personality.

1:13.3

One time Dick Bass was on a cross-country flight and he spent the time regaling his very

1:18.1

nice seatmate with details from his adventures on all seven continents.

...

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