12 books that changed Jordan B. Peterson's life

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Reading lists

Jordan B. Peterson: 12 books that changed my life

The Box Set

24 Rules For Life

Jordan B. Peterson, clinical psychologist and 'the world's most influential public intellectual' (New York Times), has improved the lives of millions of people around the world with his books, 12 Rules for Life and Beyond Order. Drawing on ancient wisdom, as well as deeply personal lessons from his own life and clinical practice, he gives us the courage to seek truth and meaning in everything we do. 
 
Discover both volumes - Peterson's complete set of 24 rules for life - in this beautifully designed box set.

12 More Rules for Life

Beyond Order

The inspirational sequel to 12 RULES FOR LIFE, which has sold over 10 million copies around the world - now in paperback 
 
In 12 Rules for Life, acclaimed public thinker and clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson offered an antidote to the chaos in our lives: eternal truths applied to modern anxieties. His insights have helped millions of readers and resonated powerfully around the world. 
 
Now in this long-awaited sequel, Peterson goes further, showing that part of life's meaning comes from reaching out into the domain beyond what we know, and adapting to an ever-transforming world. While an excess of chaos threatens us with uncertainty, an excess of order leads to a lack of curiosity and creative vitality. Beyond Order therefore calls on us to balance the two fundamental principles of reality - order and chaos ­- and reveals the profound meaning that can be found on the path that divides them. 
 
In times of instability and suffering, Peterson reminds us that there are sources of strength on which we can all draw: insights borrowed from psychology, philosophy, and humanity's greatest myths and stories. Drawing on the hard-won truths of ancient wisdom, as well as deeply personal lessons from his own life and clinical practice, Peterson offers twelve new principles to guide readers towards a more courageous, truthful and meaningful life.

The advice in Beyond Order reflects some new and painful awareness of mortality. But it was always Peterson's intimate, self-revealing style that made his life advice so powerful, so energising, and so hard to reduce to politics

A sui generis kind of personal trainer for the soul.... It's a good thing that there's space on the self-help shelves for a book as bracingly pessimistic as this one... Peterson offers an invaluable reminder that we're finite and inherently imperfect

Full of sensible, humane advice, and shows he is still very much on top... The book is a validation of his own role; as he observes, being able to articulate what many people instinctively feel but can't articulate is a valuable role for a public intellectual

In telling us that life is suffering (as all major religions do) and that the goal is to find meaning rather than happiness, he does have something to say. ... wisdom combined with good advice. Peterson is at his best when telling stories of his clinical practice - he comes across as an empathetic non-judgmental listener

More trenchant life advice from the bestselling author of 12 Rules for Life... bound to be a bestseller

Reliably thought-provoking, often engrossing ... Peterson has a sharp eye for the vagaries of human nature, and he can be a compelling storyteller, especially when narrating his own experiences and those he has observed from life. There is a fair amount of wisdom in Beyond Order, of the kind that used to be called common sense

Part quest, part adventure, part lecture and part polemic... There's masses of passion, masses of wisdom and a deep, deep yearning for us all to seek the beauty, truth and meaning Peterson has sometimes glimpsed and is desperate for us to find. He has had tens of thousands of letters from people who say he has helped them to find it. How many writers can say they have done that?

[Peterson is] enlightening as a clinical psychologist... Peterson's rules are an attempt to locate people within society, to acknowledge the systems and structures that have long existed and, instead of seeking to tear them down, encourage his readers to find their most functional position within them

Beyond Order showcases Peterson's extraordinary gift for storytelling, as well as for extrapolating complex psychological themes and deriving lessons and meaning from them in ways lay readers can understand... A delight to read... Peterson is a world class communicator... Beyond Order is a compelling and ultimately life-affirming read for anyone willing to challenge their own ideas and face up to the untapped potential in their lives

Gratitude, he says, is "something in which you can discover part of the antidote to the abyss and the darkness". As I read this last line, I found myself saying "amen". And I realised what Jordan Peterson really is. He has suffered more than most of us. He has seen the abyss. And he has emerged from it not a top public intellectual but a highly driven, intelligent, complex and deservedly successful preacher

[Beyond Order] has psychological value and if you want homespun common sense that is mixed with the wisdom of the ages then this is the book for you. The 12 new rules are clearly laid out with a mix of literature, mythology, philosophy, religion and psychology used to support the significance of each... It's worth reading to equip you to live a more purposeful and a more meaningful life

'With Beyond Order, Jordan Peterson has given us an astonishingly illuminating look at the human condition. Rule by rule, he digs into the cornerstones of our psyche and culture as he seeks to explain why we behave the way we do'

Peterson is a deep thinker with tremendous powers of articulation and a captivating sense of wonder. A master storyteller, he draws on a multitude of sources, including his personal life, clinical practice and long marriage to enlighten readers about the fundamentals of human behavior and our civilization. Beyond Order is a call for action and self-improvement. It is a mind-blowing journey where the lessons learnt are lessons for life

An Antidote to Chaos

12 Rules for Life

The #1 Sunday Times bestseller from 'the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now' (New York Times) - now in paperback. 
 
How should we live properly in a world of chaos and uncertainty? 
 
Jordan Peterson has helped millions of people, young and old, men and women, aim at a life of responsibility and meaning. Now he can help you. 
 
Drawing on his own work as a clinical psychologist and on lessons from humanity's oldest myths and stories, Peterson offers twelve profound and realistic principles to live by. After all, as he reminds us, we each have a vital role to play in the unfolding destiny of the world. 
 
Deep, rewarding and enlightening, 12 Rules for Life is a lifeboat built solidly for stormy seas: ancient wisdom applied to our contemporary problems.

Genuinely extraordinary... Unmatched by any other modern thinker ... A prophet for our times

The most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now

Everyone must read 12 Rules For Life... The most enlightening book I have read in ages. Google him if you like, if it makes you feel better. It will, by the way. But get the book, that is the most important thing. And then read it. And then pass it on to a friend

In a different intellectual league... Peterson can take the most difficult ideas and make them entertaining. This may be why his YouTube videos have had 35m views. He is fast becoming the closest that academia has to a rock star

Charismatic and exceptionally articulate.... Peterson is a new kind of public intellectual, using YouTube to spread ideas infinitely wider than predecessors such as Bertrand Russell or Isaiah Berlin

Anyone who is in a position of leadership would find it very insightful ... Jordan Peterson is a profound writer

It is that rare thing: self-help that might actually be helpful

Fascinating ... Peterson is brilliant on many subjects

One of the most eclectic and stimulating public intellectuals at large today, fearless and impassioned

Profound, charismatic and serious... One of the most important thinkers to emerge on the world stage for many years

The most sought-after psychologist in the world

Like the best intellectual polymaths, Peterson invites his readers to embark on their own intellectual, spiritual and ideological journeys... You have nothing to lose but your own misery

The most important and influential Canadian thinker since Marshall McLuhan. His bold synthesis of psychology, anthropology, science, politics and comparative religion is forming a genuinely humanistic university of the future

Someone with not only humanity and humour, but serious depth and substance ... Peterson has a truly cosmopolitan and omnivorous intellect... There is a burning sincerity to the man

A rock-star academic, a cool, cowboy-boot-wearing public thinker who directs tough love at overprotected youth ... Peterson twirls ideas around like a magician

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian psychologist whose seemingly overnight ascent to cultural rockstar comes after years of deep scholarship in many disciplines

12 Rules for Life hits home - from identifying the deeply engrained hierarchical ladder that motivates our decision making to asking indispensable and sometimes politically unpopular questions about your life and suggesting ways to better it

Howard Bloom, author of 'The Lucifer Principle'

Peterson has become a kind of secular prophet who, in an era of lobotomised conformism, thinks out of the box ... His message is overwhelmingly vital

Jordan Peterson has become one of the world's most electrifying and influential public thinkers, with his lectures on topics ranging from the Bible to mythology to romantic relationships capturing audiences of tens of millions. His startling message about the value of personal responsibility and the search for meaning has resonated powerfully around the world. 
 
In this book, he combines the hard-won truths of ancient wisdom with decades of clinical experience to provide twelve profound and practical principles, from setting your house in order before criticising others to comparing yourself to who you were yesterday, not to someone else today. Gripping, thought-provoking and deeply rewarding, 12 Rules for Life offers an antidote to the chaos in our lives: eternal truths applied to our modern problems.

Jordan B. Peterson

Whether in your eyes the author ranks as prophet or provocateur, you should read this outstanding study … there is rich substance underlying it

Jordan Peterson wrestles with God – and the result is worth watching

Engrossing … rewarding … Jordan Peterson wrestles with God and the result is one for the ages … the reader is encouraged to buckle down and choose his or her own adventure

At a time when so many of the mainstream Christian churches are either drifting along with the culture or turning inward to bicker about who has power, it is perhaps not surprising that the most compelling interpretation of the Scriptures is coming from a layman, a psychologist, someone outside the ecclesiastical structures. Jordan Peterson makes no claim to give an adequate theological account of the Bible, but he is indeed shedding light on what the Church Fathers called the ‘moral sense’ of the sacred text. It is practically impossible to imagine anyone who would not find illumination and inspiration in the pages of this book

Bishop Robert Barron, founder of Word on Fire

This book revitalizes ancient wisdom and builds a bridge between human biology and theology—a bridge we must cross to rescue ourselves and our civilization from the biblical errors now visible on every horizon

Bret Weinstein, cohost of DarkHorse Podcast and coauthor of A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century

Jordan Peterson has wrestled into existence another iconic masterpiece, highlighting that our ancient stories filter what we see and create our perception of reality. Read on to understand the provocative arguments of our age at an entirely new level

Mehmet Oz, Professor Emeritus at Columbia University

Peterson breathes psychological fire into ancient mythological motifs, and he proposes a new understanding of spirit that bridges religion and science. This book will help many people recover the roots of their spirituality while orienting them to a new expression of that spirituality

John Vervaeke, author of Awakening from the Meaning Crisis

Peterson asks the questions of our time. Who are we? How did we get here? How do we meet the challenges of the future, both as individuals and as a civilization? A must read from the West’s most important public intellectual

Konstantin Kisin, cohost of the TRIGGERnometry podcast

Perceptions of the Divine

What is the true story of our lives—and what should it be? 
In his newest revolutionary offering, world-renowned clinical psychologist and bestselling author Jordan Peterson guides us through the ancient accounts of rebellion, sacrifice, suffering and triumph that have formed the foundations of the Western world. Drawing on the psychology of religion, mythology and philosophy, he reveals the profound wisdom of the Biblical stories—explaining why we ignore them, today, at our great peril.Adam and Eve and the eternal fall of mankind; the murderous war of Cain and Abel; the cataclysmic flood of Noah, the spectacular collapse of the Tower of Babel; Abraham’s terrible adventure, and the epic of Moses and the Israelites: What could such stories possibly mean? How have they helped us make sense of the world, and who we are, for millennia? How can they still guide us in our eternal search for meaning, aim and purpose?Powerfully illuminating and thought-provoking, We Who Wrestle with God brings the reader on an awe-inspiring intellectual journey through the greatest stories ever told.

Jordan B. Peterson

Books by Jordan B. Peterson

Articles featuring Jordan B. Peterson

Jordan B. Peterson: 12 books that changed my life

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