Quote

We're told that to be great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. We see ourselves as a nation of extroverts - which means that we've lost sight of who we really are. 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.

Susan Cain

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Susan Cain
Age: 56
Born: 1968
Born: March 20
Lawyer
Non-Fiction Writer
Writer
Lost
Nation
Consult
Three
Told
Introvert
Two
Study
Depending
Mean
Nations
Bold
Great
Half
Third
Every
Happy
Thirds
Introverts
Really
Words
Sight
Extroverts
People
Means
Americans
Sociable

More quotes by Susan Cain

Image
America had shifted from what influential cultural historian Warren Susman called a culture of character to a culture of personality, and opened up a Pandora's box of personal anxieties of which we would never recover.
Susan Cain
Image
The purpose of school should be to prepare kids for the rest of their lives, but too often what kids need to be prepared for is surviving the school day itself.
Susan Cain
Image
Figure out what you are meant to contribute to the world and make sure you contribute it
Susan Cain
Image
The bias against introversion leads to a colossal waste of talent, energy, and happiness.
Susan Cain
Image
Indeed, your biggest challenge may be to fully harness your strengths. You may be so busy trying to appear like a zestful, reward-sensitive extrovert that you undervalue your own talents, or feel underestimated by those around you. But when you’re focused on a project that you care about, you probably find that your energy is boundless.
Susan Cain
Image
Every American was to become a performing self.
Susan Cain
Image
I use a lot of old-fashioned expressions.
Susan Cain
Image
Though shyness per se was unacceptable, reserve was a mark of good breeding.
Susan Cain
Image
Introversion - along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness - is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.
Susan Cain
Image
There is no one more courageous than the person who speaks with the courage of his convictions.
Susan Cain
Image
When you go to a football game and someone offers you a beer [...], they're really saying hi, have a glass of extroversion.
Susan Cain
Image
One honest relationship can be more productive than fistfuls of business cards.
Susan Cain
Image
Evangelicalism has taken the Extrovert Ideal to its logical extreme...If you don't love Jesus out loud, then it must not be real love. It's not enough to forge your own spiritual connection to the divine it must be displayed publicly.
Susan Cain
Image
I'm insatiably curious about human nature.
Susan Cain
Image
Introverts living under the Extroversion Ideal are like women in a man's world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are.
Susan Cain
Image
In our culture, snails are not considered valiant animals - we are constantly exhorting people to come out of their shells - but there's a lot to be said for taking your home with you wherever you go.
Susan Cain
Image
In most job interviews, people say they are looking for people skills and emotional intelligence. That's reasonable, but the question is, how do you define what that looks like?
Susan Cain
Image
Scores of studies have shown that venting doesn't soothe anger it fuels it.
Susan Cain
Image
The next time you see a person with a composed face and a soft voice, remember that inside her mind she might be solving an equation, composing a sonnet, designing a hat. She might, that is, be deploying the power of quiet.
Susan Cain
Image
[Introverts,] the world needs you and it needs the things you carry. So I wish you the best of all possible journeys and the courage to speak softly.
Susan Cain