There are only a few people out there who can completely overcome their fears, and they all live in Tibet.
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed. —CARL JUNG
The authors whose books get published - once accepted as a reclusive breed - are now vetted by publicists to make sure they're talk-show ready.
Some people are more certain of everything than I am of anything. —ROBERT RUBIN, In an Uncertain World
Some of the world’s most talented people are introverts.
Some animals naturally carry shelter everywhere they go, and that some humans are just the same
Society often overlooks us introverts. We idolize the talkers and the spotlight seekers, as if they are the role models should be emulating. I call this the Extrovert Ideal. This is the belief that w...
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 not demonstrating a failure or a lack of energy. T...
She also knows full well that shy is a negative word in our society. Above all, do not shame her for her shyness.
One highly successful venture capitalist who is regularly pitched by young entrepreneurs told me how frustrated he is by his colleagues’ failure to distinguish between good presentation skills and tru...
Most great ideas spring from solitude.
It’s also vital to recognize that many people—especially introverts like Steve Wozniak—need extra quiet and privacy in order to do their best work.
Introverts living under the Extrovert Ideal are like women in a man’s world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are.
Introverts feel just right with less stimulation, as when they sip wine with a close friend, solve a crossword puzzle, or read a book. Extroverts enjoy the extra bang that comes from activities like m...
Introverts are not smarter than extroverts. According to IQ scores, the two types are equally intelligent. And on many kinds of tasks, particularly those performed under time or social pressure or inv...
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.
Deliberate Practice is best conducted alone for several reasons. It takes intense concentration, and other people can be distracting. It requires deep motivation, often self-generated. But most import...
But exceptional performance depends not only on the groundwork we lay through Deliberate Practice; it also requires the right working conditions. And in contemporary workplaces, these are surprisingly...
Agreeable people are warm, supportive, and loving; personality psychologists have found that if you sit them down in front of a computer screen of words, they focus longer than others do on words like...
You once said to would like to sit beside me while I write. Listen in that case I could not write at all. For writing means revealing one self to excess; that utmost of self-revelation and surrender,...