12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

Peterson, Jordan B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241351634 ISBN 13: 9780241351635

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2018

The #1 Sunday Times and International Bestseller from 'the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now' (New York Times)

What are the most valuable things that everyone should know?

Acclaimed clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson has influenced the modern understanding of personality, and now he has become one of the world's most popular public thinkers, with his lectures on topics from the Bible to romantic relationships to mythology drawing tens of millions of viewers. In an era of unprecedented change and polarizing politics, his frank and refreshing message about the value of individual responsibility and ancient wisdom has resonated around the world.

In this book, he provides twelve profound and practical principles for how to live a meaningful life, from setting your house in order before criticising others to comparing yourself to who you were yesterday, not someone else today. Happiness is a pointless goal, he shows us. Instead we must search for meaning, not for its own sake, but as a defence against the suffering that is intrinsic to our existence.

Drawing on vivid examples from the author's clinical practice and personal life, cutting edge psychology and philosophy, and lessons from humanity's oldest myths and stories, 12 Rules for Life offers a deeply rewarding antidote to the chaos in our lives: eternal truths applied to our modern problems.

Review:

Genuinely extraordinary... Unmatched by any other modern thinker ... A prophet for our times (Dominic Sandbrook Daily Mail)

The most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now (New York Times)

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 (Chris Evans)

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 (Observer)

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 (Amol Rajan New Statesman)

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

It is that rare thing: self-help that might actually be helpful (New Statesman)

Fascinating ... Peterson is brilliant on many subjects (Bryan Appleyard Sunday Times)

One of the most eclectic and stimulating public intellectuals at large today, fearless and impassioned (Matthew d'Ancona Guardian)

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

From the Back Cover:

Praise for Jordan Peterson

'Jordan Peterson is 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' Camille Paglia

'Profound, charismatic and serious ... Peterson has become increasingly difficult to ignore - and whoever chooses to do so will deprive themselves of an intriguing intellectual journey' Tim Lott, Spectator

'A master at helping his students become more reflective, and take themselves and their futures more seriously' Norman Doidge, author of The Brain that Changes Itself (from the foreword)

'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