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Behavior is imitated, then abstracted into play, formalized into drama and story, crystallized into myth and codified into religion—and only then criticized in philosophy, and provided, post-hoc, with rational underpinnings.

— Jordan Peterson Maps of Meaning (1999)

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More quotes by Jordan Peterson

Romance requires trust—and the deeper the trust, the deeper the possibility for romance.

Beyond Order (2021)

If you are not capable of cruelty, then you are absolutely a victim of anyone who is.

Your values have to be hierarchically organized with something absolute at the top, because otherwise they do nothing but war.

It took untold generations to get you where you are. A little gratitude might be in order. If you’re going to insist on bending the world to your way, you better have your reasons.

Although Christ commits many acts that might be considered revolutionary, as we discussed in Rule I, He is nonetheless explicitly portrayed in the Gospels as the master of tradition.

Beyond Order (2021)

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

John Adams A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

Thomas Babington Macaulay History of England (1849)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jordan Peterson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.