Jordan Peterson

Psychology Canadian 1962 362 quotes

Clinical psychologist and cultural commentator

Most quoted

"Order is not enough. You can't just be stable, and secure, and well-regulated. There has to be something else. Chaos is not enough. You can't just be creative, and dynamic, and exploratory, or you'll be dead, or in pieces. The proper place is the boundary between order and chaos."

— from 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

"You are not your own property. You are, in part, the property of your community, and your culture, and your ancestors, and your children. And you have a responsibility to them all. And if you shirk that responsibility, you're going to pay a price. And so are they."

— from 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, 2018

"The individual must conduct his or her life in a manner that requires the rejection of immediate gratification, of natural and perverse desires alike, and the sacrifice of hedonic pleasure itself to the greater goal of spiritual enlightenment."

— from Maps of Meaning, 1999

All quotes by Jordan Peterson (362)

The fundamental problem is that people don't want to grow up.

Various lectures and interviews

Life is suffering. It's a catastrophe. How are you going to deal with that?

Various lectures and interviews

The only way to overcome the suffering of life is to take on responsibility.

Various lectures and interviews

The individual has to take responsibility for his or her own life.

Various lectures and interviews

The world is not a story, it's a place where stories happen.

Various lectures and interviews

You can't have a meaningful life without responsibility.

Various lectures and interviews

The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it's conformity.

Various lectures and interviews

You have to be willing to be a fool to learn anything.

Various lectures and interviews

The world is not a playground, it's a place of serious work.

Various lectures and interviews

The problem with the world is that too many people are trying to be good, instead of trying to be competent.

Various lectures and interviews

You have to be able to articulate your own position.

Various lectures and interviews

The world is not a place of safety, it's a place of opportunity.

Various lectures and interviews

The only way to make the world a better place is to make yourself a better person.

Various lectures and interviews

You have to be willing to sacrifice the good for the better.

Various lectures and interviews

The truth is what makes you strong.

Various lectures and interviews

The purpose of life is to confront the unknown.

Various lectures and interviews

You're not going to get away with anything. Ever. So you might as well be good.

Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief

The truth is a very powerful weapon. It's also a very dangerous one.

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

If you're not willing to be a fool, you can't become a master.

YouTube lecture

The best way to clean up the world is to clean up your room.

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos