Introversion Quotes

“Too close. If we live in too close proximity to a person, it is as if we kept touching a good etching with our bare fingers; one day we have poor, dirty paper in our hands and nothing more. a human being's soul is likewise worn down by continual touching; at least it finally appears that way to us - we never see its original design and beauty again.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Aphorisms on Love and Hate

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

“Shyness is born from a lack of self-confidence and fear of ridicule. In my case it latched on to the young boy who didn’t have confidence in himself or his abilities after being belittled by his first-grade teacher. Introversion, on the other hand, is a tremendous gift that allows for inquisitive curiosity about life. Introversion created in this young boy a fascination with life, nature, science, creativity, and imagination.”
― Joel Annesley, Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up With Shyness

“Out of town I could simply be, I could feel my self, firm and calm and unmalleable as I could not when I was in school or in any of the usual human communities that seemed to weaken or scatter me. I could sit for an hour in the rocks above the Knife River, asking for no more discourse than that water’s monotonous gabble. I was an inward child, it was true, but beyond that, I felt a contentment outside human society that I couldn’t feel within it.”
― Larry Watson, Montana 1948

“Every sound comes into my ears dirty because you've heard it on the way”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit

“Keeley always made him laugh. Always made him . . . comfortable. There weren't many who did. He did fine around his family but strangers bothered him. He hated chatting. Hated idiotic conversations about nothing, but not as much as he hated conversations about what some random being thought was important. Honestly, Caid was most happy when he was by himself . . .”
― G.A. Aiken, The Blacksmith Queen

“I can't get myself to stay; I cannot enjoy the crowd,
But I hate that I hate it because I wish I could let go.
I'm all alone in this corner and their laughter is loud.
Well that's okay, I think I'll just go home.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, Can I Tell You Something?

“I'd like to think that the work of God might be displayed through my introversion, and not in spite of it.”
― Adam S. McHugh, Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture

“Introverts move a little slower, speak a little less, and rest a little more.”
― Adam S. McHugh, Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture

“Our fear of aloneness incites us to look for love. The terror of never finding anyone to share of with lives eventually causes us to forgo our natural shyness, mingle with other people, and express compassion.”
― Kilroy J. Oldster, Dead Toad Scrolls

“Here’s a well-kept secret: introversion is not defined by lack. Introversion, when embraced, is a wellspring of riches.”
― Laurie A. Helgoe, Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength

“I am faced then with two options:  a) a nightclub filled with the rich, beautiful and famous or b) an early night alone in bed with a book.  Never has any decision been easier.
The book was gripping.”
― Stephen Fry, Stephen Fry in America

“I am seated here
Alone
A thousand miles away
From everybody
But if I have myself
And my sanity
I’ve got nothing else to lose”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Song of a Nature Lover

“Chaplin left the Keystone studios on a Saturday night in December after cutting his last film, without bidding farewell to any of his erstwhile colleagues; he spent Sunday in his room at the Los Angeles Athletic Club and on the following day he turned up for work at the Essanay Studios in Niles, California. Of course, everyone at Keystone knew about his imminent departure, but he could not bring himself to make a speech or shake hands. He just left. Sennett said later that 'as for Charles Spencer Chaplin, I am not at all sure that we know him'. He had never really been part of the team; he would never become a member of any group.”
― Peter Ackroyd, Charlie Chaplin: A Brief Life

“After he had taught himself to be friendly, everything else became harder. He had to let go of his nerdy passions. He couldn't do both at once.”
― Gary Shteyngart, Lake Success

“From an evolutionary perspective, introversion must have survived as a personality trait for a reason — so what might the reason be?”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“According to a recent study of military personnel conducted through the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, introverts function better than extroverts when sleep deprived, which is a cortically de-arousing condition (because losing sleep makes us less alert, active, and energetic).”
― 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

“Introversion is also very different from Asperger's syndrome, the autism spectrum disorder that involves difficulties with social interactions such as reading facial expressions and body language.... unlike people with Asperger's, introverts often have strong social skills. Compared with the one third to one half of Americans who are introverts, only one in five thousand people has Asperger's.”
― Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

“(Query here becomes unavoidable: Does not a misplaced optimism exist, common to all mankind, leading on to false conviction that social engagements, if dated sufficiently far ahead, will never really materialise?)”
― E.M. Delafield, Diary of a Provincial Lady

“I usually sit out on my porch about nine and have a couple of beers. In warm weather I like to watch the night come one. Sometimes Norma joins me. You come over, if you're a mind."
"Well, maybe I will," Louis said, not intending to at all.”
― Stephen King, Pet Sematary

“You can not always be locked in “your world” because others will find it harder to understand you.”
― Pawel Cislo

“The world needs to accept introversion as normal. The world should stop associating introversion with mental illness.”
― Mitta Xinindlu

“For me, talking to strangers is something you do as a last resort: lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood, dead phone, broken leg, typhoon - and, really, only if these things happen all at once.

I know it's not only me who feels this way. During rush hour in cities, we all stand squashed on public transportation, essentially spooning, in total silence. Sure, I'll shove my face into your armpit, but talk to you? Never.”
― Jessica Pan, Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: An Introvert's Year of Living Dangerously

“I've never wanted you to feel that you have to be other than what you are or that to be shy and more reserved is some sort of character flaw that needs to be overcome. You know I've always found it infuriating when people hold up extroverted, outgoing behavior as a yardstick to emulate, when that personality type is no more or less valid than one more introverted.”
― Elle Pierson, Artistic License

“I observe out of the corner of my eye that the man with the notebook is walking towards me and obviously intends to introduce himself. Why do human beings have to talk, I find myself wondering. Is it really necessary for us to make these noises?”
― Graham Hancock, Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization

“The human creature is a social animal and will derive companionship of soul from the unlikeliest sources. It will be fed by even the hint of a smile or twinkle of the eye from a passerby where no more vital companionship food is to be had.”
― Michael R. Phillips, The Soldier's Lady

“She’s good at small talk, she excels at it, but when you pair up one small talker to two deep ones, it doesn’t work.”
― Krystalle Bianca, Perfectly Fractured (The Imperfect, #1).

“You have me.”
That’s what she wanted to say, but to her introvert heart, such confessions didn’t come easy.”
― Pamela Harju, Love in the Time of Corona

“It was a simple truth. She thought of Lucien and of his love of Isaac Newton. She remember Newton’s deeply held mistrust of people. He was an introvert and a private man who never traveled far from his birthplace. While Newton experienced so much celestial wonder, he mostly kept to himself. In fact, it was believed that throughout his life, he never fell in love.”
― Sarah C. Patten, The Measure of Gold