Quiet Quotes

“online “idea market,”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Our culture made a virtue of living only as extroverts. We discouraged the inner journey, the quest for a center. So we lost our center and have to find it again.—ANAÏS NIN”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person’s capacity to act.
—MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“First, think back to what you loved to do when you were a child. How did you answer the question of what you wanted to be when you grew up? The specific answer you gave may have been off the mark, but the underlying impulse was not. If you wanted to be a fireman, what did a fireman mean to you? A good man who rescued people in distress? A daredevil? Or the simple pleasure of operating a truck? If you wanted to be a dancer, was it because you got to wear a costume, or because you craved applause, or was it the pure joy of twirling around at lightning speed? You may have known more about who you were then than you do now.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Some say that temperament is the foundation, and personality is the building.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Osborn’s “rules” of brainstorming were meant to neutralize this anxiety, but studies show that the fear of public humiliation is a potent force.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“learned to not worry so much about the outcome, but to concentrate on the step I was on and to try to do it as perfectly as I could when I was doing it.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“If these statistics surprise you, that’s probably because so many people pretend to be extroverts.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“many of the most important institutions of contemporary life are designed for those who enjoy group projects and high levels of stimulation.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Neither E=mc2 nor Paradise Lost was dashed off by a party animal.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“But we make a grave mistake to embrace the Extrovert Ideal so unthinkingly. Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions—from the theory of evolution to van Gogh’s sunflowers to the personal computer—came from quiet and cerebral people who knew how to tune in to their inner worlds and the treasures to be found there.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, but we’ve turned it into an oppressive standard to which most of us feel we must conform”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“We like to think that we value individuality, but all too often we admire one type of individual—the kind who’s comfortable “putting himself out there.” Sure,”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“If you’re not an introvert yourself, you are surely raising, managing, married to, or coupled with one.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Depending on which study you consult, one third to one half of Americans are introverts—in other words, one out of every two or three people you know. (Given that the United States is among the most extroverted of nations, the number must be at least as high in other parts of the world.)”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“And what else can quiet do that we don’t give it credit for?”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“She believed that her “quiet traits,” as she called them, had helped her become editor-in-chief.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“The day arrived when he stood to take the oath, at which point the chief justice ordered him to take off his turban. Gandhi saw his true limitations then. He knew that resistance would be justified, but believed in picking his battles, so he took off his headgear. His friends were upset. They said he was weak, that he should have stood up for his beliefs. But Gandhi felt that he had learned “to appreciate the beauty of compromise.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Western culture, by contrast, is organized around the individual. We see ourselves as self-contained units; our destiny is to express ourselves, to follow our bliss, to be free of undue restraint, to achieve the one thing that we, and we alone, were brought into this world to do.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Many Asian cultures are team-oriented, but not in the way that Westerners think of teams. Individuals in Asia see themselves as part of a greater whole—whether family, corporation, or community—and place tremendous value on harmony within their group. They often subordinate their own desires to the group’s interests, accepting their place in its hierarchy.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“If you’re a buzz-prone extrovert, then you’re lucky to enjoy lots of invigorating emotions. Make the most of them: build things, inspire others, think big. Start a company, launch a website, build an elaborate tree house for your kids. But also know that you’re operating with an Achilles’ heel that you must learn to protect. Train yourself to spend energy on what’s truly meaningful to you instead of on activities that look like they’ll deliver a quick buzz of money or status or excitement. Teach yourself to pause and reflect when warning signs appear that things aren’t working out as you’d hoped. Learn from your mistakes. Seek out counterparts (from spouses to friends to business partners) who can help rein you in and compensate for your blind spots.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Kellogg School of Management Professor Camelia Kuhnen has found that the variation of a dopamine-regulating gene (DRD4) associated with a particularly thrill-seeking version of extroversion is a strong predictor of financial risk-taking. By contrast, people with a variant of a serotonin-regulating gene linked to introversion and sensitivity take 28 percent less financial risk than others. They have also been found to outperform their peers when playing gambling games calling for sophisticated decision-making.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Extroverts, in other words, are characterized by their tendency to seek rewards, from top dog status to sexual highs to cold cash.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“human extroverts have more sex partners than introverts do—a boon to any species wanting to reproduce itself—but they commit more adultery and divorce more frequently, which is not a good thing for the children of all those couplings. Extroverts exercise more, but introverts suffer fewer accidents and traumatic injuries. Extroverts enjoy wider networks of social support, but commit more crimes”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“They found a striking difference among the groups. All three groups spent the same amount of time—over fifty hours a week—participating in music-related activities. All three had similar classroom requirements making demands on their time. But the two best groups spent most of their music-related time practicing in solitude: 24.3 hours a week, or 3.5 hours a day, for the best group, compared with only 9.3 hours a week, or 1.3 hours a day, for the worst group. The best violinists rated “practice alone” as the most important of all their music-related activities. Elite musicians—even those who perform in groups—describe practice sessions with their chamber group as “leisure” compared with solo practice, where the real work gets done.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“The number of Americans who considered themselves shy increased from 40 percent in the 1970s to 50 percent in the 1990s, probably because we measured ourselves against ever higher standards of fearless self-presentation.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“The nineteenth-century German philosopher Schopenhauer contrasted “good-spirited” people (energetic, active, and easily bored) with his preferred type, “intelligent people” (sensitive, imaginative, and melancholic).”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Those kids are less likely to come, perhaps because they’re less inclined to analyze and dig deep—that’s not their comfort zone. The so-called shy kids are often hungry to brainstorm ideas, deconstruct them, and act on them, and, paradoxically, when they’re allowed to interact this way, they’re not shy at all. They’re connecting with each other, but in a deeper zone, in a place that’s considered boring or tiresome by some of their peers.” And these kids do “come out” when they’re ready; most of the Writopia kids read their works at local bookstores, and a staggering number win prestigious national writing competitions.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“School is hard because a lot of people are in the room, so you get tired. I freak out if my mom plans a play date without telling me, because I don’t want to hurt my friends’ feelings. But I’d rather stay home. At a friend’s house you have to do the things other people want to do. I like hanging out with my mom after school because I can learn from her. She’s been alive longer than me. We have thoughtful conversations. I like having thoughtful conversations because they make people happy.”*”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“Similarly, Chinese high school students tell researchers that they prefer friends who are “humble” and “altruistic,” “honest” and “hardworking,” while American high school students seek out the “cheerful,” “enthusiastic,” and “sociable.” “The contrast is striking,”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking