“To stand up straight with your shoulders back is to accept the terrible responsibility of life, with eyes wide open. It means deciding to voluntarily transform the chaos of potential into the realities of habitable order. It means adopting the burden of self-conscious vulnerability, and accepting the end of the unconscious paradise of childhood, where finitude and mortality are only dimly comprehended. It means willingly undertaking the sacrifices necessary to generate a productive and meaningful reality.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 27)
“If your posture is poor, for example—if you slump, shoulders forward and rounded, chest tucked in, head down, looking small, defeated and ineffectual (protected, in theory, against attack from behind)—then you will feel small, defeated and ineffectual. The reactions of others will amplify that. If you present yourself as defeated, then people will react to you as if you are losing. If you start to straighten up, then people will look at and treat you differently.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 26)
“Dreams shed light on the dim places where reason itself has yet to voyage.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page xxxii)
“It is because we are born human that we are guaranteed a good dose of suffering. And chances are, if you or someone you love is not suffering now, they will be within five years, unless you are freakishly lucky. Rearing kids is hard, work is hard, aging, sickness and death are hard, and Jordan emphasized that doing all that totally on your own, without the benefit of a loving relationship, or wisdom, or the psychological insights of the greatest psychologists, only makes it harder.” ~ Norman Doidge, via 12 Rules for Life (Page xvii)
“The best rules do not ultimately restrict us but instead facilitate our goals and make for fuller, freer lives.” ~ Norman Doidge, via 12 Rules for Life (Page viii)
“Without rules we quickly become slaves to our passions—and there’s nothing freeing about that.” ~ Norman Doidge, via 12 Rules for Life (Page viii)
12 Rules for Life [Book]
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Post(s) Inspired by this Book:
- 48 Deep and Insightful Jordan Peterson Quotes from 12 Rules for Life
- 9 Rules for Children from 12 Rules For Life by Jordan Peterson
- Jordan Peterson Quote on Life Priorities and How “Triviality” Can Be Deceptive (Beyond the Quote 207/365)
- Jordan Peterson Quote on Self-Discovery and Why You Should Come Out From Hiding To Find Yourself (Beyond the Quote 155/365)
- Jordan Peterson Quote on The Power of Vision and Direction for Personal Development (Beyond the Quote 141/365)
- Jordan Peterson Quote on Disciplining Children (Beyond the Quote 51/365)
- Jordan Peterson Quote on Winning—About Letting Growth Taking Precedence Over Victory (Beyond the Quote 15/365)
- Jordan Peterson Quote on Judging Ourselves Based On Our Actions—Not Our Beliefs (Beyond the Quote 10/365)
- Picking A Direction Beats Random Wandering (Beyond the Quote 1/365)













