“Voluntary sacrifice in the service of what’s highest: this is the highest principle.”

Jordan Peterson opened our gathering with a simple idea: Western civilisation is built on the idea of sacrifice.

In Jordan's words: "[Sacrifice] is being willing to give up something in the hopes of attaining something of greater value: something that’s deferred, mature, rich and harmonious with the lives around you... It is integrating our personal desires with those of our family, our city, our nation... It is the higher principle that puts hedonistic self-gratification in its right place."

Stepping up into responsibility always takes sacrifice. And the life of responsible citizenship creates a virtuous cycle - an "infinite upward spiral" - that carries us higher into prosperity, truth and meaning.

Sacrifice means together we all experience something greater. This is the adventure we’re called to.

This is the better story.

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Dr Jordan B Peterson is a clinical psychologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. He authored the global bestsellers Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life and 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. His new book, We Who Wrestle With God, will be published this Autumn.