HA

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Churchill on Politeness During War

From Little Happier: Why Winston Churchill Used Courteous Speech in a Letter About WarJun 29, 2026

Excerpt from Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Little Happier: Why Winston Churchill Used Courteous Speech in a Letter About WarJun 29, 2026 — starts at 0:00

Lemonada Today's episode is brought to you by Jeviti. If you've ever had blood work come back fine, but still felt like something was off, this might sound familiar. What stood out to me about Jeviti is that they go beyond a standard annual physical. Their longevity panel looks at more than one hundred biomarkers and instead of just handing you a report, they connect you with a longevity specialist who helps make sense of it all and builds a personalized plan around your goals. That's the difference. A lot of services stop at the data. Gevity helps you understand what to do next with support from a clinical team and access to things like hormone optimization, peptides, genetics, and personalized supplement protocols. Ready to see what your standard physical has been missing? Head to go v jeity. com and use code happier to get fifteen percent off your Jeviti membership. That's g OG I T I . com code happier for fifteen percent off. Gevites services are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Results may vary, available in forty seven states. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a fifty page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had opened for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online makes sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check response is set up required compatibility and availability varies eighteen plus. I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier. I am a great lover of civility and measured speech , which I think goes a long way to help people manage disagreements and differences even in the context of profound or mortal conflict . Speaking in a calm and courteous way helps people to feel and think in a calm and courteous way . And maybe that calm can help people achieve better outcomes in difficult situations . For this reason, I don't like a new trend I've noticed here in the United States, the increased use of very vulgar, inflammatory language in public . I especially don't like seeing this language used by public officials. I see public officials quoted saying things in front of a wide audience that I wouldn't say in private to my husband . It has been more than twenty years since I wrote my short , unconventional biography of Winston Churchill, forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill , but I still think about Churchill just about every single day. He made such a deep impression on me. On the subject of courteous language, I was reminded of the letter that Churchill wrote after Japan suddenly entered into the wider Second World War in december nineteen forty one. Without prior declaration of war, Japan attacked several British imperial territories . In response, Churchill, then Prime Minister, sent a letter to the Japanese envoy in London . In this letter dated december eighth with a foreign office heading, he wrote Sir , on the evening of december seventh, his Majesty's government in the United Kingdom learned that Japanese forces without previous warning either in the form of a declaration of war or of an ultimatum with a conditional declaration of war had attempted a landing on the coast of Malaya and bombed Singapore and Hong Kong . In view of these wanton acts of unprovoked aggression committed in flagrant violation of international law and particularly of Article I of the Third Hague Convention relative to the opening of hostilities , to which both Japan and the United Kingdom are parties , his Majesty's Ambassador at Tokyo has been instructed to inform the imperial Japanese government in the name of Ma Hjisesty 's Government in the United Kingdom that a state of war exists between our two countries . I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir , your obedient servant , Winston S. Churchill . In his book, The Grand Alliance, the third volume in his fascinating monumental six part history the Second World War , Churchill answered some critics. Churchill noted, some people did not like this ceremonial style . But after all, when you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite. To me, this ceremonial

This excerpt was generated by Smart Features

Listen to Happier with Gretchen Rubin in Podtastic

For listeners, not advertisers

All podcast names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Podcasts listed on Podtastic are publicly available shows distributed via RSS. Podtastic does not endorse nor is endorsed by any podcast or podcast creator listed in this directory.