I know this book for a long time, since the time Dr. Peterson got popular on Youtube for his political view and debating on controversial topics. Also, the title of the book is tempting like clickbait, so I decided to give it a try.
Rules, I was no fan of it. But once I realize that without rules, I tend to lean toward self-destruction, now I see it as a vital part of life.
What I learn in this book
Dr. Peterson wrote a lot, some of it made sense to me, some I could not understand clearly. Because there are too many things to talk about, so I think it’s a good idea to list here some of my favorite quotes in the book instead:
“Don’t think that it is easier to surround yourself with good healthy people than with bad unhealthy people. It’s not. A good, healthy person is an ideal. It requires strength and daring to stand up near such a person. Have some humility. Have some courage. Use your judgment, and protect yourself from too-uncritical compassion and pity.”
“We are not equal in ability or outcome, and never will be. A very small number of people produce very much of everything. The winners don’t take all, but they take most, and the bottom is not a good place to be. People are unhappy at the bottom. They get sick there, and remain unknown and unloved. They waste their lives there. They die there.”
“Life is a zero-sum game. Worthlessness is the default condition.”
“Dare, instead, to be dangerous. Dare to be truthful. Dare to articulate yourself, and express (or at least become aware of) what would really justify your life”
“Of course, it’s easier in the moment to stay silent and avoid conflict. But in the long term, that’s deadly. When you have something to say, silence is a lie”
“You think, ‘I am unhappy. However, I could be cured of this unhappiness if I could just fulfill my ambition.’ But then you might think further. ‘Wait,’ you think. ‘Maybe I’m not unhappy because I don’t have my boss’s job. Maybe I’m unhappy because I can’t stop wanting that job.’”
“life sucks, and then you die.”
“life doesn’t have the problem. You do. At least that realization leaves you with some options. If your life is not going well, perhaps it is your current knowledge that is insufficient, not life itself.”
“You don’t understand anything.” “You didn’t even know that you were blind.”
“Children can be damaged as much or more by a lack of incisive attention as they are by abuse, mental or physical.” “Children are damaged when those charged with their care, afraid of any conflict or upset, no longer dare to correct them, and leave them without guidance.”
“This is because people have a great capacity for evil, as well as good—and because they remain willfully blind to that fact.”
“Life is in truth very hard. Everyone is destined for pain and slated for destruction. Sometimes suffering is clearly the result of a personal fault such as willful blindness, poor decision-making or malevolence.”
“Life is short, and you don’t have time to figure everything out on your own. The wisdom of the past was hard-earned, and your dead ancestors may have something useful to tell you).” “Don’t blame capitalism, the radical left, or the iniquity of your enemies. Don’t reorganize the state until you have ordered your own experience.”
“To share does not mean to give away something you value, and get nothing back. That is instead only what every child who refuses to share fears it means. To share means, properly, to initiate the process of trade.”
“I soon came to realize that almost everything I said was untrue. I had motives for saying these things: I wanted to win arguments and gain status and impress people and get what I wanted. I was using language to bend and twist the world into delivering what I thought was necessary. But I was a fake. Realizing this, I started to practise only saying things that the internal voice would not object to. I started to practise telling the truth—or, at least, not lying.”
“If you will not reveal yourself to others, you cannot reveal yourself to yourself.”
“Maybe it wasn’t sex. Maybe every conversation between husband and wife had deteriorated into boring routine, as no shared adventure animated the couple. Maybe that deterioration was easier, moment by moment, day by day, than bearing the responsibility of keeping the relationship alive. Living things die, after all, without attention.”
“Say what you mean, so that you can find out what you mean. Act out what you say, so you can find out what happens. Then pay attention. Note your errors. Articulate them. Strive to correct them. That is how you discover the meaning of your life. That will protect you from the tragedy of your life. How could it be otherwise?”
What I don’t like in this book
Besides those things I’ve learned, I have to admit that reading this book is not an enjoyable journey for me, the author was writing too much.
To articulate his ideas, he has referred a lot from the Bible, Christianity, and history, science experiments … with a lot of fancy words, never-ending sentences, some ideas aren’t meant to be intellectual or innovative but sometimes it’s hard for me to capture what he wants to convey, I got lost a lot of times.
You can easily look up comments on Goodreads or Google for more review (example), but be aware that Dr. Peterson is considered conservative in his opinion and that attracts a lot of hate from the brainless left.
Final Words
After all, I still recommend you read this book if you want to expand your view. Now I’m trying to apply some rules for my daily basis.
My overall rating is 3.8/5
