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 purpose of life is to find a noble burden to bear.

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Clean up your room, bucko.

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If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.

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The world is a stage, and most of us are just props.

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The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

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You can't have a meaningful life without sacrifice.

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The truth is not always pretty, but it's always necessary.

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Don't be a doormat. Be a dragon.

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The world is full of suffering, and you have to find a way to make it meaningful.

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The only way to escape the suffering of life is to embrace it.

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You have to be willing to be wrong to learn anything.

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The purpose of life is to find your own damn purpose.

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If you're not making things better, you're making them worse.

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The world is a harsh place, and you have to be tougher.

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The only way to find happiness is to stop looking for it.

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You can't be a good person if you're not willing to confront evil.

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The purpose of life is to find a way to be useful.

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Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

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The world is a tragedy, but it's also a comedy.

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The only way to deal with the devil is to look him in the eye.

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