We put too much of a premium on presenting and not enough on substance and critical thinking.

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.

...true self-esteem comes from competence, not the other way around.

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.

Jealousy is an ugly emotion, but it tells the truth. You mostly envy those who have what you desire.

Even when the attention focused on me is positive, I am uncomfortable being looked at by a lot of people - it's just not my natural state of being.

Should we become so proficient at self-presentation that we can dissemble without anyone suspecting?