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A widely held, but rarely articulated, belief in our society is that the ideal self is bold, alpha, gregarious. Introversion is viewed somewhere between disappointment and pathology.

Susan Cain

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Susan Cain
Age: 56
Born: 1968
Born: March 20
Lawyer
Non-Fiction Writer
Writer
Somewhere
Viewed
Belief
Widely
Society
Bold
Introversion
Self
Rarely
Articulated
Disappointment
Alphas
Ideal
Alpha
Held
Pathology
Ideals
Gregarious

More quotes by Susan Cain

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We often marvel at how introverted, geeky, kid 'blossom' into secure and happy adults. We liken it to a metamorphosis. However, maybe it's not the children who change but their environments. As adults they get to select the careers, spouses, and social circles that suit them. They don't have to live in whatever culture they'er plunked into.
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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?
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I'm insatiably curious about human nature. I feel very lucky that as a writer I get to learn so much about it just to do my job right.
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I've never given a speech without being terrified first.
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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.
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There is no one more courageous than the person who speaks with the courage of his convictions.
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When you're more focused in getting your message across than you are worrying about how people are viewing you, that's huge.
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Introverts .. may have strong social skills and enjoy parties and business meetings, but after a while wish they were home in their pajamas.
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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.
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I've wanted to be a writer since I was four years old!
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we have two ears and one mouth and we should use them proportionally
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It's not that there is no small talk...It's that it comes not at the beginning of conversations but at the end...Sensitive people...'enjoy small talk only after they've gone deep' says Strickland. 'When sensitive people are in environments that nurture their authenticity, they laugh and chitchat just as much as anyone else.
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Every American was to become a performing self.
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Introversion - along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness - is now a second-class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology.
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One genuine new relationship is worth a fistful of business cards.
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We don't need giant personalities to transform companies. We need leaders who build not their own egos but the institutions they run.
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Introverts often work more slowly and deliberately. They like to focus on one task at a time and can have mighty powers of concentration . They're relatively immune to the lures of wealth and fame.
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Introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly.
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We have a two-tier class system when it comes to personality style. To devalue introversion is a waste of talent, energy and happiness.
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...true self-esteem comes from competence, not the other way around.
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