Order refers to familiar territory and stable, predictable norms. While studying the world’s great mythical and religious stories, Peterson concluded that, to our ancestors, the most important elements in the world weren’t material things, but the elements of order and chaos. This order/chaos duality is deeply embedded in human culture and perhaps even in our brains. When order reigns in human lives, the world’s behavior matches our expectations, and things turn out as we want them to. In myths, order is symbolically portrayed as masculine. Though order provides stability, the dark side of order is that too much of it can become tyrannical. Peterson believes that walking the border between order and chaos is the path to a meaningful life.
Order Quotes in 12 Rules for Life
The 12 Rules for Life quotes below are all either spoken by Order or refer to Order. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Overture
Quotes
Order and chaos are the yang and yin of the famous Taoist symbol: two serpents, head to tail. Order is the white, masculine serpent; Chaos, its black, feminine counterpart. The black dot in the white—and the white in the black—indicate the possibility of transformation: just when things seem secure, the unknown can loom, unexpectedly and large. Conversely, just when everything seems lost, new order can emerge from catastrophe and chaos.
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Order Term Timeline in 12 Rules for Life
The timeline below shows where the term Order appears in 12 Rules for Life. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Overture
...beings enact a drama. The most important elements in that world weren’t material things, but order and chaos.
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For Peterson, “order” means that the people around you act according to predictable social norms. Order includes “social...
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The Taoist yin-yang symbol portrays order (white) and chaos (black) as two intertwined serpents. The white contains a black dot, and...
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...12 rules in this book offers a guide to living on the dividing line between order and chaos. On that line, people find the meaning behind life and suffering. If we...
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Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back
...his point that nature itself is both static and transformative all the time—that chaos and order are simultaneous.
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...is really different things, nested within one another, that change at varying rates—chaos nested within order.
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...up straight with your shoulders back means taking on the responsibility of transforming chaos into order. This is why it’s important to maintain good posture. The more you do this, the...
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Rule 2: Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping
...of matter, human experience can also be reduced to its constituent elements. These include chaos, order, and the process that mediates between the two—what’s called consciousness today. Peterson says that when...
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Order, on the other hand, is “explored territory.” It’s the structure that society, tradition, and biology...
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Chaos and order aren’t objects; they’re things perceived as personified. In this regard, modern people are no different...
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Order is symbolically associated with the masculine. This might be because human and much animal society...
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Everyone instinctively understands order and chaos, Peterson asserts, even if they don’t know they understand it. When people begin...
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Rule 5: Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them
...the outside world, too. Clear boundaries help build social maturity, which in turn helps maintain order and resist chaos in the wider world. So, don’t let your children do anything that...
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Rule 9: Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t
Every other type of conversation supports “some existing order.” By contrast, a conversation of mutual exploration is willing to take a step into the...
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Rule 10: Be precise in your speech
When things do fall apart, it’s possible to reestablish order through our speech, if we speak precisely. Once you’ve sorted things into their proper places,...
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...and the world are organized through communication. Even when things collapse, the possibility of new order exists, but “courageous clarity of thought […] is necessary to call it forth.” You do...
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...unhappy about and what you want—using precise speech to do so—the chaos can resolve into order.
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