“Respect for individual human personality has with us reached its lowest point," observed one intellectual in 1921, "and it is delightfully ironical… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“Shakespeare’s oft-quoted advice, “To thine own self be true,” runs deep in our philosophical DNA. Many of us are uncomfortable with the… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
A widely held, but rarely articulated, belief in our society is that the ideal self is bold, alpha, gregarious. Introversion is viewed… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“On the other side of the debate are a group of psychologists known as the Situationists. Situationism posits that our generalizations about… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal—the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
In our society, the ideal self is bold, gregarious, and comfortable in the spotlight. We like to think that we value individuality,… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“If there is only one insight you take away from this book, though, I hope it’s a newfound sense of entitlement to… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“Proverbs from the East: The wind howls, but the mountain remains still. Even though I make no special attempt to observe the discipline of… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“where we fall on the introvert-extrovert spectrum. Our place on this continuum influences our choice of friends and mates, and how we make conversation,… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“I worry that there are people who are put in positions of authority because they’re good talkers, but they don’t have good ideas,” he… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“He believes, as most of us do, that venting anger lets off steam. The “catharsis hypothesis”—that aggression builds up inside us until it’s healthily… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“Soft power is not limited to moral exemplars like Mahatma Gandhi. Consider, for example, the much-ballyhooed excellence of Asians in fields like math and… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“Events like this don't give me the sense of oneness others seem to enjoy; it's always been private occasions that make me feel connected… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“Social anxiety disorder”—which essentially means pathological shyness—is now thought to afflict nearly one in five of us. The most recent version of the Diagnostic… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“So when introverts assume the observer role, as when they write novels, or contemplate unified field theory- or fall quiet at dinner parties- they’re… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
“Osborn’s theory had great impact, and company leaders took up brainstorming with enthusiasm. To this day, it’s common for anyone who spends time in… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
“But as the word satyagraha implies, Gandhi’s passivity was not weakness at all. It meant focusing on an ultimate goal and refusing to divert… — Susan Cain Copy Share Image
