Comment: Jordan Peterson's quote makes a similar point to the one we find in the story of Job. In that biblical story, Job suffers terribly, and the people who come to comfort him end up making things worse with their explanations and judgements. Job calls them "miserable comforters" (Job 16:2). The two are not connected, but they point to the same human failure: when someone is in pain, words that claim to help can sometimes deepen the wound instead. (Thanks to John Erwin for the story of Job.)Advice is what you get when the person you’re talking with about something horrible and complicated wishes you would just shut up and go away.
Advice is what you get when the person you are talking to wants to revel in the superiority of his or her own intelligence.
If you weren’t so stupid, after all, you wouldn’t have your stupid problems.
Credit: Jordan Peterson
Source: 12 Rules for Life (page 233, hardback edition)
Posts where this quotation is embedded
- Don’t Give Advice Especially when it is sought
People: Jordan B Peterson (1)
Posts: Jordan B Peterson (1)
Books: Jordan B Peterson (1)
Quotations: Jordan B Peterson (8)
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Blog Posts: Jordan B Peterson (1)
Posts: Jordan B Peterson (1)
Books: Jordan B Peterson (1)
Quotations: Jordan B Peterson (8)
- Contemplate the Possibility That You Have Something Very Real to Offer the World Jordan B Peterson
- Freedom of Speech Is Not Just Another Value Jordan B Peterson
- If We Put Ourselves in Order, Perhaps We Will Do the Same for the World Jordan Peterson
- Life Has Meaning with Responsibility Jordan B Peterson
- Scratching the Surface of Your Beliefs Jordan Peterson (2023)
- There’s No Difference Between Writing and Thinking Jordan B Peterson
- We Have to Be More Than We Are Jordan B Peterson
- You Have a Moral Obligation to Do Remarkable Things Jordan B Peterson
Videos: Jordan B Peterson (2)
Blog Posts: Jordan B Peterson (1)
Image Credits: Pixabay
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