Jordan Peterson on Personal Responsibility Quotes

"The way that you make the world better is by making yourself better."

"If you cannot understand why someone did something, look at the consequences—and infer the motivation."

"The secret to your existence is right in front of you, and it manifests itself as all those things you know you should do but you're avoiding."

"You need a load to keep you upright."

"Voluntary confrontation with what you are afraid of is curative."

"To stand up straight with your shoulders back is to accept the terrible responsibility of life, with eyes wide open."

"You use the observation of your own capability to bear responsibility, to buttress yourself against the terrors of being finite. You say, "Weak and miserable as I am, I can still stand up to the terrible tragedy of life and prevail!" And that's good enough. "Strengthen the Individual: A counterpoint to Post Modern Political Correctness"

"If you want to be successful, you have to be useful."

"You are not everything you could be, and you know it."

"Don't underestimate the power of your vision to change the world. Whether that's a world deep inside you or the world outside."

"If you are not disciplined, you are a slave to your moods and your passions."

"Beauty leads you back to what you have lost. Beauty reminds you of what remains forever immune to cynicism. Beauty beckons in a manner that straightens your aim. Beauty reminds you that there is lesser and greater value. Many things make life worth living: love, play, courage, gratitude, work, friendship, truth, grace, hope, virtue, and responsibility. But beauty is among the greatest of these. p. 226"

"The alternative to valuing yourself is self-destruction."

"Discipline is the precondition for freedom."

"Tell the truth — or, at least, don't lie."

"It is in responsibility that most people find the meaning that sustains them through life. It is not in happiness. It is not in impulsive pleasure."

"Strengthen the individual. Start with yourself. Care for yourself. Define who you are. Refine your personality."

"Perhaps you are overvaluing what you don’t have and undervaluing what you do."

"If you don't say what you think then you kill your unborn self."

"You must determine where you are going in your life, because you cannot get there unless you move in that direction."

"If you have a purpose, you can withstand any how."

"You cannot be protected from the things that frighten you and hurt you, but if you identify with the part of your being that is responsible for transformation, then you are always the equal or more than the equal of the things that frighten you."

"The purpose of life is finding the largest burden that you can bear and bearing it."

"Do what is meaningful, not what is easy."

"Do not hide unwanted things in the fog."

"Stop saying things that make you weak."

"Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping."

"Notice that opportunity lurks where responsibility has been abdicated."

"Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)."

"Aim to be the strongest person at your father's funeral."

"Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today."

"Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens."

"Adopt as much responsibility as you can to justify your existence."