Quiet

Quotes

"The truth is that many schools are designed for extroverts... very little is made available to [extroverted learners] except constant advice on becoming more social and gregarious."

"The glory of the disposition that stops to consider stimuli rather than rushing to engage with them is its long association with intellectual and artistic achievement. Neither E=mc² nor Paradise Lost was dashed off by a party animal." - Winifred Gallagher

Paradigm shift

I read this one nearly eight years ago, and it was a great help in putting words to my experiences growing up in a world biased toward "extroverts". While I'm not a fan of binary labels, I greatly appreciate the work done by Susan Cain in helping break the obnoxious dogma around the worship of extroversion. I've also benefited greatly from landing in a career that values creativity, contemplation, and bold innovation, all of which require deep, concentrated work. 

I think since then our culture has come a long way toward embracing both sides of the (oversimplified) introvert/extrovert coin. I mean, during the pandemic, I think a lot of us found we have more of the "other side" in us than we initially thought. Some found a little too much isolation is damaging, while others found more beauty in silence and stillness.