I suspect avoiding the former helped much more than avoiding the latter?
For some, that means you don't laugh at them. For some who don't curse it may mean you don't say "F*ck" all the time. For some it's skipping lots of strong political talk when trying to do work. For some its being smart and being able to have an interesting conversation. For some it's having a clear technical opinion backed by experience (ie, you can provide good clear direction). For some its always trying to understand their problem before solving it.
A lot of the folks who say their behavior should be fine (ie, cursing, getting into politics) the point is that it's not per se wrong, it's just doesn't in my view lead to someone a large group of folks are eager to work with. Telling other people to be OK with your behavior (even if you are "right") is not always comfortable - and these folks can be very very confrontational and don't handle other views well often.
In my line of work people were paying to get problems solved, not to hire someone who rants and raves. And some of the best money is in solving problems that others stomp around and rant about in my experience. If you reliably solve problems, your hourly rate goes through the roof in consulting.
I totally didn't value my time properly at the beginning ($25/hr!!) -> now it's incredibly higher - I've no idea what I was thinking at the beginning.