For many, Jordan Peterson has become a touchstone of modern thought. Some praise him as a visionary intellectual, while others dismiss him as a controversial figure. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying the impact he’s had on the world of ideas.
His ideas on personal responsibility, societal values, and the human condition have inspired millions around the world, and his quotes have been shared and debated on social media and in academic circles alike. His quotes are ubiquitous on social media and have been used to both support and critique his views.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most compelling Jordan Peterson quotes, exploring the themes that have made him one of the most influential and divisive figures of our time.
Brief Introduction of Jordan Peterson
Jordan Peterson is a Canadian psychologist, professor, and author who has gained significant attention for his views on a range of topics, including personality, relationships, and societal issues. He has written several books, including “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” which has become a bestseller.
Here are some well-known facts about Peterson:
- He was born on June 12, 1962, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
- He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Alberta, his Master’s degree in Psychology from McGill University, and his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Alberta.
- He has been a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto since 1998.
- Peterson’s YouTube channel has over 3 million subscribers and his lectures and interviews have been viewed hundreds of millions of times.
- Peterson has been vocal in his opposition to compelled speech and Bill C-16, a Canadian law that adds gender identity and expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.
- Peterson has struggled with addiction and depression and has been open about his experiences with both.
Famous Jordon Peterson Quotes
You’re not everything you could be, and you know it.
There’s some real utility in gratitude.
It’s better to do something badly than to not do it at all.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.
You can only find out what you actually believe (rather than what you think you believe) by watching how you act. You simply don’t know what you believe, before that. You are too complex to understand yourself
The successful among us delay gratification and bargain with the future.
If you’re going to be successful you need to be smart, conscientious, and tough. If you aren’t moving forward in your life there is some idea, mode of action, or habit you’re so in love with you won’t let go of it.
Everything you value is a product of unimaginably lengthy developmental processes, personal, cultural, and biological.
Face the demands of life voluntarily. Respond to a challenge, instead of bracing for catastrophe.
The better ambitions have to do with the development of character and ability, rather than status and power. The status you can lose. You carry character with you wherever you go, and it allows you to prevail against adversity.
Notice that opportunity lurks where responsibility has been abdicated.
Don’t underestimate the power of vision and direction. These are irresistible forces, able to transform what might appear to be unconquerable obstacles into traversable pathways and expanding opportunities.
Perhaps you are overvaluing what you don’t have and undervaluing what you do.
Self-love is the only antidote to the chaos of existence. And if you don’t love and care for yourself and your own needs, you will cause unnecessary suffering both for yourself and others.
When you have something to say, silence is a lie.
Don’t be a slave to stupid rules.
Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient).
It took untold generations to get you where you are. A little gratitude might be in order.
If you fulfill your obligations every day you don’t need to worry about the future.
Jordan Peterson Quotes about Self-Improvement
You should be better than you are, but it’s not because you’re worse than other people. It’s because you’re not everything you should be.
People create their worlds with the tools they have directly at hand.
It takes careful observation, education, reflection, and communication with others, just to scratch the surface of your beliefs.
To learn is to die voluntarily and be born again, in great ways and small.
And if you think tough men are dangerous, wait until you see what weak men are capable of.
The creative person, by contrast, is always open to new possibilities.
You can do an awful lot by writing down what happened to you and thinking it through.
The successful among us delay gratification. The successful among us bargain with the future.
If someone is making everyone around them miserable and you’d like to know why, their motive may simply be to make everyone around them miserable including themselves.
Truth, virtue, and courage are not necessarily enough, but they are our best bet.
Love is the desire to see unnecessary suffering ameliorated.
If you don’t stand your ground, then all that happens is people push you backward. And they will push you, and push you, and push you until you fall off a cliff.
The purpose of life is finding the largest burden that you can bear and bearing it.
If you’re going to insist on bending the world to your way, you better have your reasons. If you’re going to stand your ground, you better have your reasons. You better have thought them through. You might otherwise be in for a very hard landing.
To suffer terribly and to know yourself as the cause: that is Hell.
You need to consider the future And think, ‘What might my life look like if I were caring for myself properly?’
So, listen, to yourself and to those with whom you are speaking. Your wisdom then consists not of the knowledge you already have, but the continual search for knowledge, which is the highest form of wisdom.
In the West, we have been withdrawing from our tradition-, religion- and even nation-centered cultures, partly to decrease the danger of group conflict. But we are increasingly falling prey to the desperation of meaninglessness, and that is no improvement at all.
RULE 4: Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.
It took untold generations to get you where you are. A little gratitude might be in order. If you’re going to insist on bending the world your way, you better have your reasons.
Inspirational Jordan Peterson quotes
He whose life has a why can bear almost any how.
Can you imagine yourself in 10 years if instead of avoiding the things you know you should do, you actually did them every single day—that’s powerful.
The light that you discover in your life is proportionate to the amount of darkness you are willing to forthrightly confront.
Ideologies are substitutes for true knowledge, and ideologues are always dangerous when they come to power because a simple-minded I-know-it-all approach is no match for the complexity of existence.
If you don’t say what you think then you kill your unborn self. When you have something to say, silence is a lie.
The way that you make people resilient is by voluntarily exposing them to things that they are afraid of and that make them uncomfortable.
It is much better to make friends with what you do not know than with what you do know, as there is an infinite supply of the former but a finite stock of the latter.
Every bit of learning is a little death. Every bit of new information challenges a previous conception, forcing it to dissolve into chaos before it can be reborn as something better. Sometimes such deaths virtually destroy us.
The secret to your existence is right in front of you, and it manifests itself as all those things you know you should do but you’re avoiding.
Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.
Once someone has spent enough time cultivating bad habits and biding their time, they are much diminished. Much of what they could have been has dissipated.
So, listen, to yourself and to those with whom you are speaking. Your wisdom then consists not of the knowledge you already have, but the continual search for knowledge, which is the highest form of wisdom.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.
Adopt responsibility for your own well-being, try to put your family together, try to serve your community, and try to seek eternal truth. That’s the sort of thing that can ground you in your life, enough so that you can withstand the difficulty of life.
Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens.
Humility is the recognition of personal insufficiency and the willingness to learn.
The secret to your existence is right in front of you. And it manifests itself as all those things you know you should do but you’re avoiding.
Truth is the handmaiden of love.
You might be winning but you’re not growing and growing might be the most important form of winning.
Make friends with people who want the best for you.
Always place your becoming above your current being.
Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.
Jordan Peterson Quotes about Success
It’s in responsibility that most people find the meaning that sustains them through life. It’s not in happiness. It’s not in impulsive pleasure.
You can do an awful lot by writing down what happened to you and thinking it through.
You should be careful, therefore, to live your life fully, and marriage and children and grandchildren, and all the trouble and heartbreak that accompanies all of that, is much of what life has to offer. Miss it at your great peril.
You can only find out what you actually believe (rather than what you think you believe) by watching how you act. You simply don’t know what you believe, before that. You are too complex to understand yourself.
The truth is something that burns, it burns off deadwood and people don’t like having their deadwood burnt off often because they’re 95 percent deadwood.
If you’re going to insist on bending the world your way, you better have your reasons.
Dialogue is the pathway to truth.
It’s appropriate and praiseworthy to associate with people whose lives would be improved if they saw your life improve.
If you can’t understand why someone is doing something, look at the consequences of their actions, whatever they might be, and then infer the motivations from their consequences.
I don’t think that you have any insight whatsoever into your capacity for good until you have some well-developed insight into your capacity for evil.
If you cannot understand why someone did something, look at the consequences and infer the motivation.
Whether the gods are inside or outside makes very little difference to whether there are gods.
You should take care of, help, and be good to yourself the same way you would take care of, help, and be good to someone you loved and valued.
Ideologies are substitutes for true knowledge, and ideologues are always dangerous when they come to power because a simple-minded I-know-it-all approach is no match for the complexity of existence.
There are some games you don’t get to play unless you are all in.
Stop saying those things that make you weak and ashamed. Say only those things that make you strong. Do only those things that you could speak of with honor.
Best Books of Jordon Peterson
Jordan Peterson is not only a speaker and thinker, but also a successful author with several best-selling books. His works offer a unique blend of psychology, philosophy, and self-help advice, all geared toward helping readers find meaning and purpose in their lives.
Here are some of the best books by Jordan Peterson.
- 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos – In this book, Peterson lays out 12 practical principles for leading a meaningful and purposeful life, drawing from his experiences as a clinical psychologist and his deep understanding of mythology and religion.
- Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief – This seminal work explores the psychological underpinnings of human behavior and belief systems, examining the role that myths, stories, and archetypes play in shaping our worldviews and sense of meaning.
- Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life – A follow-up to “12 Rules for Life,” this book offers 12 additional principles for personal growth and self-improvement, drawing on Peterson’s own struggles and experiences.
- The Gulag Archipelago – Although not written by Peterson himself, he has frequently praised this book by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as a powerful indictment of the horrors of Soviet communism, and a reminder of the dangers of ideological extremism.
These books are just a small selection of Jordan Peterson’s influential works. Each one offers unique insights and perspectives on how to live a fulfilling and meaningful life, and are highly recommended for anyone looking to improve themselves and their understanding of the world.
