12 Rules for Life.
Jordan B. Peterson on 12 Rules for Life
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1 Stand up straight with your shoulders straight
Not everyone can be as rich and successful as me, but try to be less of a failure than you already are.
2 Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping
Yes, you have a shameful, sinful nature but for God’s sake just make a bit of an effort. Stop waiting for other people to dig you out of your pitiful hole.
3 Befriend people who want the best for you
We are all Being. Just some of us are better Beings. Learn to tell the difference. Some people are beyond help. They are merely exploiting the willingness of good people to help them and, as Dostoyevsky rightly observes, will drag you down to their level. So stick with the winners. If people are determined to screw up, let them. They are nothing to do with the Divine Purpose.
4 Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not the useless person you are today
Face it, you’re never going to be that smart, so don’t compare yourself to someone who is. Start by getting on your knees to pray. Even if you don’t Believe in God. Atheists are merely people who are blinded to the true way of Being. There, you feel marginally less useless already.
5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them
Remember that children are born with Original Sin and have a huge capacity for Evil. They are not Innocent Beings. They need Discipline if they are going to grow up to be even vaguely worthwhile humans.
6 Set your house in order before you criticise the world
Remember the story of Cain and Abel? Well, read it then. Yes, Abel was a schmuck who deserved to die and Cain wasn’t quite as goddamn perfect as he thought he was. He deserved to die, too. We all deserve to die. So stop moaning if someone is richer and better looking than you.
7 Pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient
Life is suffering. The Book of Genesis tells us that. There is no easy way round this. So quit looking for short cuts and start reading Nietzsche.
8 Tell the truth. Or at least don’t lie
To be honest, I’m scrabbling around for things but my publishers tell me I need 12. By telling you the Truth about this, I am an Improved Being. Certainly better than you.
9 Assume the person you are listening to knows something you don’t
Just shut up, quit moaning and listen to me. I know things you don’t. So don’t expect me to listen to you. That’s not the way things work. I’m here to make you feel Better about Yourself by telling you things you already know in a way that makes you feel clever.
10 Be precise in your speech
Confront the chaos of Being. Don’t try to beat about the bush. Things are going to be terrible. Oedipus killed his Dad. Face up to the real horrors of the world.
11 Do not bother children while they are skateboarding
Let boys do boy things and girls do girl things. Nowhere in the Bible does God say anything about this trans nonsense.
12 Pet a cat when you encounter one in the street
We’re all going to die. Probably painfully. So just make the best of what you’ve got. If you see a cat, stroke it. You might feel better. Though probably not. And if there are no cats, pet something else. Like a dog.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jan/28/12-rules-for-life-an-antidote-to-chaos-by-jordan-b-peterson-digested-read
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30257963-12-rules-for-life
