Brian JohnsonChairman & Philosopher in Residence at Heroic

A Recipe for a Good Life: By Muhammad Ali (Heroic +1 #1,527)

17 Dec 2025 · 0 min

Episode

17 Dec 2025 · 0 min

0:00

A short podcast episode in the Heroic Plus One series (hosted by Brian Johnson) that reads a poem titled “A Recipe for a Good Life” from Muhammad Ali’s autobiography The Soul of a Butterfly. The episode presents the poem as a set of virtues framed as a recipe (kindness, humility, laughter, patience, generosity, forgiveness, love, faith, determination, courage) and closes with a brief encouragement and call-to-action to visit Heroic US.

Hey, hero. If you're enjoying these daily plus ones, make sure you head to Heroic Us to check out all of the other goodness we have to help you activate your best every day. And now, today's plus one.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. Over the last several plus ones, we've been getting all fired up with some inspiring poems. Let's look at one more. This one is from Muhammad Ali's fantastic autobiography, the Soul of of a Butterfly. It's called A Recipe for a Good Life. Muhammad Ali tells us, and I quote, here's my suggestion. Take a few cups of kindness, one dash of humility, one sprinkle of laughter, one teaspoon of patience, one tablespoon of generosity, one pint of forgiveness, one quart of love and a gallon of faith. Mix in determination and add lots of courage. Stir it up very well, spread it over the span of your lifetime and serve it to each and every person you meet. And that's today's plus one. Short and sweet is hard to beat, as my sixth grade English teacher, Mrs. Ruscher, wisely taught us. Here's to cooking up the virtues that will make today a great day.
We hope you enjoyed today's heroic plus one. For more ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools to help you flourish in energy, work and love, head to Heroic US where you can get started on your heroic journey for free.