Quotes from the book "12 Rules for Life"

Here are some quotes I liked from the book "12 Rules for Life" By Jordan B Peterson.

Leaves change more quickly than trees, and trees more quickly than forests.
The part of our brain that keeps track of our position in the dominance hierarchy is therefore exceptionally ancient and fundamental.
Our anxiety systems are very practical. They assume that anything you run away from is dangerous. The proof of that is, of course, the fact you ran away.

Our minds are far older than mere humanity.
The line dividing the good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.

The desire to improve was, instead the precondition for progress.
If you have a friend whose friendship you wouldn't recommend to your sister, or your father, or your son, why would you have such a friend for yourself?

Rule 4: Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today

You might be winning but you're not growing, and growing might be the most important form of winning.
When you have something to say, silence is a lie.
The future is like the past. But there's a crucial difference. The past is fixed, but the future could be better.
What you aim at determines what you see.
Life doesn't have a problem. you do.
What is it that is bothering me ? " is that something I could fix?" and "Would I actually be willing to fix it?" If you find that the answer is "no", to any or all of the questions, then look elsewhere.
Attend to the day, but aim at the highest good.

Old age and treachery can always overcome youth and skill.
Limit the rules and use the minimum necessary force, parents should come in pairs.

Sometimes, when things are not going well, it's not the world that's the cause. The cause is instead that which is currently most valued, subjectively and personally.

Taking the easy way out or telling the truth -- those are not merely two different choices. They are different pathways through life. They are utterly different ways of existing.
People define their utopia and then bend their lives into knots trying to make it a reality.
Untruth corrupts the soul and the state alike, and one form of corruption feeds the other.
With love, encouragement, and character intact, a human being can be resilient beyond imagination.
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven.
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.
If you have no aim everything can mean anything or nothing.
A man's worth was determined by how much truth he could tolerate.

Rule 9: Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't

The present can change the past, and the future can change the present.
The purpose of memory. It's not "to remember the past" It's to stop the same damn thing from happening over and over.
True thinking is rare just like true listening.
To think, you have to be at least two people at the same time. Then you have to let those people disagree.

If you cannot understand why someone did something, look at the consequences and infer the motivation.
Society these days is NO longer the repression of the poor by the rich. It was the oppression of everyone by the powerful.
There are only two major reasons for resentment: being taken advantage of OR whiny refusal to adopt responsibility and grow up. If you are resentful, look for the reasons.
Too much protection devastates the developing soul.
Humanity has passed through a series of stages: Das Mutterrecht (a society where women held dominant positions), Dionysian (transition from matriarchal to patriarchal), Apollonian( Patriarchy rules)

Tajfel's studies demonstrated two things: First, that people are social; second, that people are antisocial.

Happy Reading !!!

Surya Prakash Jayanti