The secret to life is to put yourself in the right lighting. For some, it's a Broadway spotlight; for others, a lamplit desk. Use your natural powers -- of persistence, concentration, and insight -- to do work you love and work that matters. Solve problems. make art, think deeply.
Susan CainAmerica had shifted from what influential cultural historian Warren Susman called a culture of character to a culture of personality, and opened up a Pandora's box of personal anxieties of which we would never recover.
Susan CainAs a young boy, Charles Darwin made friends easily but preferred to spend his time taking long, solitary nature walks. (As an adult he was no different. โMy dear Mr. Babbage,โ he wrote to the famous mathematician who had invited him to a dinner party, โI am very much obliged to you for sending me cards for your parties, but I am afraid of accepting them, for I should meet some people there, to whom I have sworn by all the saints in Heaven, I never go out.โ)
Susan CainYour tendency to be inward-directed or outward-directed is huge; it governs every part of the way you live and work and love.
Susan CainThe emphasis is on community, on participating in more and more programs and events, on meeting more and more people. Itโs a constant tension for many introverts that theyโre not living that out. And in a religious world, thereโs more at stake when you feel that tension. It doesnโt feel like โIโm not doing as well as Iโd like.โ It feels like โGod isnโt pleased with me.โ
Susan Cain