17 Dec 2025 · 4 min
Brian Johnson frames humility as the mother of all virtues and courage as the father, drawing on Stephen Covey and David Brooks on pride. He asks you to list where you fall short, then act to improve.
May 22, 2016.
250 philosopher's notes.
$10 per month.
Over 50,000 people.
You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More wisdom in Less Time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another micro class. This one's on Virtues Meet yout Parents. It's inspired by Primary Greatness by Stephen Covey. Virtues. Who are your parents? Well, Stephen Covey tells us you have a mom and you have a dad. Virtue. Can you guess what they are? I will fill in the blanks. Humility is the mother of all virtues. And courage. Stephen Covey tells us, is the father of all virtues. Humility. What is that? Humility is the willingness to say, look, I'm capable of this. I'm actually being that I'm humble enough to see that there's a gap between me having total integrity and where I'm at now. The opposite of humility is what is pride. David Brooks in Path to Character says, pride is the number one vice. Humility is the number one virtue in cultivating our character. Where are you falling short? Make a list. No one's perfect. You're not going to be the first and then have the courage to actually do something about it. To be this rather than to seem to be that. Right? Essay Quam Videre from the last micro class. Humility plus courage. A willingness to look at where we're falling short and a courage to actually do the things we need to do in order to optimize and actualize. Remember, the word courage comes from the Latin and French words for heart. So just as your heart pumps blood to your arms and legs and other organs, so too does courage vitalize all the other virtues. There you go. Virtues you have met your parents hope you enjoyed. Where can you do some work? What's the number one thing you know you could work on? Have the humility to see it and the courage to go rock it. And have another awesome day. See ya. Hi, this is Brian. I hope you enjoyed that micro class. If so, I think you'll enjoy everything else we offer at BrianJohnson. Me. Two basic things. One, our free newsletter. It's called the Optimizer. Over 50,000 people start their day with it and they tell us it's pretty awesome. And two, our Optimal Living membership program. This is where I put all my best stuff. 10 bucks a month for a ton of wisdom. Two primary things in there, philosopher's notes plus optimal living 101 classes. When you sign up, you'll get instant access to 250 philosopher's notes, which are basically six page PDFs and 20 minute MP3s where I capture my favorite big ideas. From great books. The PNTV episodes are kind of a mini version of all that goodness. You'll also get instant access to all my optimal living classes. This is where I take all the ideas we cover in the Philosopher's Notes and boil it down to the most practical stuff you can apply today. Classes include Confidence 101, Getting Stuff Done 101, Relationships 101, Habits 101, etc. You'll also get access to what we call micro classes that I think you'll love. We aim to astonish, and we're blessed to have thousands of members telling us we're helping them change their lives and that this is the best 10 bucks they invest in themselves every month. Go to BrianJohnson ME membership to learn more. Thanks for your support and have an awesome day.
