Extroverts Quotes

Now that you're an adult, you might still feel a pang of guilt when you decline a dinner invitation in favor of a good book. Or maybe you like to eat alone in restaurants and could do without the pitying looks from fellow diners. Or you're told that you're "in your head too much", a phrase that's often deployed against the quiet and cerebral.
Or maybe there's another word for such people: thinkers. ~ Susan Cain

It can be hard for extroverts to understand how badly introverts need to recharge at the end of a busy day. We all empathize with a sleep-deprived mate who comes home from work too tired to talk, but it's harder to grasp that social overstimulation can be just as exhausting. ~ Susan Cain

Extroverts were nothing if not dependable. ~ Rainbow Rowell

Introverts almost never cause me trouble and are usually much better at what they do than extroverts. Extroverts are too busy slapping one another on the back, team building, and making fun of introverts to get much done. Extroverts are amazed and baffled by how much some introverts get done and assume that they, the extroverts, are somehow responsible. ~ Mark Vonnegut

Extroverts speak, while introverts write. That's the only difference!" ~ Ramana Pemmaraju

Extroverts sparkle, introverts glow. Extroverts are fireworks, introverts are a fire in the hearth. ~ Sophia Dembling

There are two races on earth. Those who need others, who are distracted, occupied and refreshed by others, who are worried, exhausted and unnerved by solitude as by the ascension of a terrible glacier or the crossing of a desert; and those, on the other hand, who are wearied, bored, embarrassed, utterly fatigued by others, while isolation calms them, and the detachment and imaginative activity of their minds bathes them in peace. ~ Guy De Maupassant

I'm continually amazed by how many people who appear to be extroverts are actually introverts. ~ Susan Cain

The last introvert in a world of extroverts. Silence: my response to both emptiness and saturation. But silence frightens people. I had to learn how to talk. Out of politeness. ~ Ariel Gore

I do not travel. I am not much of an extrovert, and I'm not much interested in extroverted objects. I do not care for the 'ideas' of novelists. Novels are wonderful, of course, but I prefer newspapers. ~ Will Cuppy

The danger of attending the extroverts' masquerade ball is that we surround ourselves with people who only like us for our disguise. ~ Michaela Chung

High-reactive introverts sweat more; low-reactive extroverts sweat less. Their skin is literally "thicker," more impervious to stimuli, cooler to the touch. In fact, according to some of the scientists I spoke to, this is where our notion of being socially "cool" comes from; the lower-reactive you are, the cooler your skin, the cooler you are. ~ Susan Cain

If you force extroverts to pause, says Newman, they'll do just as well as introverts at the numbers game. ~ Susan Cain

Though some of us like to get on stage, many introverts are content to put on their invisibility cloaks and watch. But well-meaning extroverts will have none of that! They need to draw us out, invite us to participate - repeatedly - and question why we are so depressed as to not want to join. ~ Laurie A. Helgoe

Some directors are really strong on action, manhandling you around the set; others are very focused on setting up the camera shots and practically ignore you. You have to get used to introverts, extroverts, directors who clown around for the crew, and the odd one who's monosyllabic. ~ Gina Bellman

There is such a thing as a shy extrovert. People think extroverts are all loud and mouthy, like Rebecca Forman, but that's not true. The definitions of extrovert and introvert have do with how you process the world and from where you draw your energy. I'm shy, but I process my world by talking about it. Which makes me an extrovert. But I don't talk about it with just anyone. I have to talk about it with Zoe. ~ Wendy Wunder

I was a very extrovert kid. It felt normal to me to act. I always went to regular schools. I've never been catty or a prima donna, so I never had problems. I always had my seat at the cafeteria when I came back from acting. ~ Kirsten Dunst

Here are three separate but similar things: shyness, introversion and social anxiety. You can have one, two or all three of these things simultaneously. A lot of the time people thing they're all the same thing, but that's just not true. Extroverts can be shy, introverts can be bold, and a condition like anxiety can strike whatever kind of social animal you are.

Lots of people are shy. Shy is normal. A bit of anxiety is normal. Throw the two together, add some brain-signal error - a NO ENTRY sign on the neural highway from my brain to my mouth perhaps, though no one really knows - and you have me. ~ Sara Barnard

While extroverts commonly feel loneliness when others are absent, introverts can feel most lonely when others are present, because ours is the aching loneliness of not being known or understood. ~ Adam S. McHugh

Introverts are drawn to the inner world of thought and feeling, said Jung, extroverts to the external life of people and activities. Introverts focus on the meaning they make of the events swirling around them; extroverts plunge into the events themselves. Introverts recharge their batteries by being alone; extroverts need to recharge when they don't socialize enough. ~ Susan Cain

She'd explained that I was an extrovert, and extroverts got their energy from being around other people. She was an introvert, and introverts got their energy from being by themselves. She needed to go home, be by herself, ~ Jennifer Echols

I will say that the socially oblivious extroverts do not represent the whole. As with introverts, social skills are independent of extroversion: some are skilled, some are not. The skilled ones know how to listen. But in contrast to socially unskilled introverts, who keep to themselves, socially unskilled extroverts insist on socializing. ~ Laurie A. Helgoe

Introverts love, extroverts think they love. ~ Alan Maiccon

It is 32c today, and the only thing keeping me from hanging myself is the small sense of relief I glean from attaching my body to the vents of my delicious cooling piece. It is a stunning unit, exquisite in all its forms, exceptional in its application, and effective in all its functions. I would marry it, if only I knew it would not die on me sometime within the next five years. Appliances, like obedient children or silent extroverts, cannot last forever, and while my unbidden affection kept my other air conditioner alive for the better part of ten years, not all inanimate objects can be fueled by my love. ~ Michelle Franklin

Introverts are "geared to inspect" and extroverts "geared to respond. ~ Susan Cain

Ever since mankind first learned to bang rocks together and spark fire, people have been driven to define themselves, to build neat little boxes and climb inside.
They divide themselves up by religion, race, nationality. And even that's not enough. They make the boxes smaller and smaller. They come up with all kinds of bullshit ways to categorize themselves. Introverts, extroverts. Leaders, followers. Morning people, night owls.
It's part of the human condition - the desperate desire to figure out where you belong. To know the truth of who you are, what you are.
Me? I'd kill anyone who tried to put me in a box. And I learned the only two important distinctions very early on.
Predators, or prey.
Eat, or be eaten.
What difference does it make if you're an introverted morning person…if you're gurgling your last breaths through the wide-open smile that I've carved in your throat? ~ Ginger Talbot

Extroverts want us to have fun, because they assume we want what they want. And sometimes we do. But "fun" itself is a "bright" word, the kind of word that comes with flashing lights and an exclamation point! One of Merriam-Webster's definitions of "fun" is "violent or excited activity or argument." The very word makes me want to sit in a dimly lit room with lots of pillows - by myself. ~ Laurie A. Helgoe

I'm actually a very shy person. You'd be surprised how many leaders are shy. They're not all extroverts by nature. ~ Larry Harvey

Kagan hypothesized that infants born with an especially excitable amygdala would wiggle and howl when shown unfamiliar objects and grow up to be children who were more likely to feel vigilant whhen meeting new people. The four month olds who trhrashed their arms like punk rockers did so not because they were extroverts in the making, but because their little bodies reacted strongly
they were high-reactive to new sights, sounds and smells. The quiet infants were silent not because they were future introverts, just the opposite, but because they had nervous systems that were unmoved by novelty. ~ Susan Cain

A lot of extroverts become quiet when they are feeling sad, angry, or trying to send someone else a message. They think that if they stop talking, the other person will automatically realize that something is wrong, and we will ask them about it (i.e. passive-aggressive behavior). This is why when an extrovert runs into a quiet, introverted person, they assume that person is quiet because they are sad/angry/depressed, and they are waiting for someone to ask them about it. This may also be the reason why extroverts always seem to be telling introverts to "cheer up," or asking them if everything is okay? ~ Drew Kimble

One of the things that is assumed about actors is that they are extrovert, which is almost never the case, in my experience. ~ Bill Nighy

I don't mind being a recluse, really. It seems the extroverts are always talking. ~ Iimani David

Extroverts get their energy from being around a lot of people, but introverts find large groups draining and require time alone to recharge ~ Sophia Amoruso

Probably the most common - and damaging - misunderstanding about personality type is that introverts are antisocial and extroverts are pro-social. ~ Susan Cain

There is no such thing as a pure extrovert or a pure introvert. Such a man would be in the lunatic asylum. ~ Carl Jung

The conference is geared to people who enjoy meaningful discussions and sometimes "move a conversation to a deeper level, only to find out we are the only ones there." . . . When it's my turn, I talk about how I've never been in a group environment in which I didn't feel obliged to present an unnaturally rah-rah version of myself. . . .

Scientists can easily report on the behavior of extroverts, who can often be found laughing, talking, or gesticulating. But "if a person is standing in the corner of a room, you can attribute about fifteen motivations to that person. But you don't really know what's going on inside." . . .

So what is the inner behavior of people whose most visible feature is that when you take them to a party they aren't very pleased about it? . . .

The highly sensitive tend to be philosophical or spiritual in their orientation, rather than materialistic or hedonistic. They dislike small talk. They often describe themselves as creative or intuitive . . . . They dream vividly, and can often recall their dreams the next day. They love music, nature, art, physical beauty. They feel exceptionally strong emotions--sometimes acute bouts of joy, but also sorrow, melancholy, and fear.

Highly sensitive people also process information about their environments--both physical and emotional--unusually deeply. They tend to notice subtleties that others miss--another person's shift in mood, say, or a lightbulb burning a touch too b ~ Susan Cain

...only extroverts cry twice.. ~ John Fowles

What psychologists call "the need for intimacy" is present in introverts and extroverts alike. In fact, people who value intimacy highly don't tend to be, as the noted psychologist David Buss puts it, "the loud, outgoing, life-of-the-party extrovert." They are more likely to be someone with a select group of close friends, who prefers "sincere and meaningful conversations over wild parties. ~ Susan Cain

Introverts prefer introversion; we tend to gain energy by reflecting and expend energy when interacting. Extroverts have the opposite preference; they tend to gain energy by interacting and expend energy while reflecting. ~ Laurie Helgoe

Some people are extroverts only when they are drunk. ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

If genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then as a culture we tend to lionize the one percent. ~ Susan Cain

As we've said many times before, Introverts get ulcers; Extroverts give ulcers. ~ Otto Kroeger

According to Free Trait Theory, we are born and culturally endowed with certain personality traits - introversion, for example - but we can and do act out of character in the service of "core personal projects."
In other words, introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly. Free Trait Theory explains why an introvert might throw his extroverted wife a surprise party or join the PTA at his daughter's school. It explains how it's possible for an extroverted scientist to behave with reserve in her laboratory, for an agreeable person to act hard-nosed during a business negotiation, and for a cantankerous uncle to treat his niece tenderly when he takes her out for ice cream. ~ Susan Cain

In the first study, Grant and his colleagues analyzed data from one of the five biggest pizza chains in the United States. They discovered that the weekly profits of the stores managed by extroverts were 16 percent higher than the profits of those led by introverts - but only when the employees were passive types who tended to do their job without exercising initiative. Introverted leaders had the exact opposite results. When they worked with employees who actively tried to improve work procedures, their stores outperformed those led by extroverts by more than 14 percent. ~ Susan Cain

The only way to become an eccentric is to end your relationship with extroverts. ~ Michael Bassey Johnson

Though introverts look calm on the surface, our brains are bubbling with activity, and thus we require less external stimulation than extroverts. ~ Adam S. McHugh

Introverts are dependent on their own inside noise, extroverts are dependent of outside noise. The outputs are dependent on quality of those noise. ~ Amit K Ghosh

The Australian form of self-respect, however rough-and-ready, heart-of-gold, come-and-take-pot-luck-with-us, and matily extrovert it is, essentially, genteel, ingrowing, self-pitying, vanilla-ice-cream hearted, its central fear a fear of intellect. ~ Hal Porter

introverts like people they meet in friendly contexts; extroverts prefer those they compete with. ~ Susan Cain

This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts, and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to. ~ Harry Reasoner

There is such thing as a shy extrovert. People think extroverts are all loud and mouthy ... but that's not true. The definitions of extrovert and introvert have to do with how you process the world and from where you draw your energy. I'm shy, but I process my world by talking about it. Which makes me an extrovert. But I don't talk about it with just anyone. -Hannah ~ Wendy Wunder

You know, I sometimes think that the most effective people in the world are introverts who taught themselves how to be extroverts. ~ Meg Wolitzer

There's zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas. ~ Susan Cain

Being an extrovert isn't essential to evangelism - obedience and love are. ~ Rebecca Pippert

We're told that to be great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. We see ourselves as a nation of extroverts
which means that we've lost sight of who we really are. Depending on which study you consult, one-third to one half of Americans are introverts
in other words one out of every two or three people you know. ~ Susan Cain

Our slower pace of life, our thoughtfulness, our spiritual and intellectual depth, and our listening abilities are prophetic qualities for the evangelical community, calling us to a renewed understanding of God and a fresh reading on the abundant life Jesus came to give us. Yet because of the extroverted bias in many of our churches, introverts are leading double lives. We are masquerading as extroverts in order to find acceptance, yet we feel displaced and confused. We are weary of fighting our introversion, and we long to live faithfully as the people we were created to be. ~ Adam S. McHugh

Extroverts never understand introverts, and it was like that in school days. I read recently that all of us can be defined in adult life by the way others perceived us in high school. ~ Neil Peart

Extroverts are amazed and baffled by how much some introverts get done and assume that they, the extroverts, are somehow actually responsible. ~ Mark Vonnegut

Extroverts get better grades than introverts during elementary school, but introverts outperform extroverts in high school and college. ~ Susan Cain

can be hard for extroverts to understand how badly introverts need to recharge at the end of a busy day. We all empathize with a sleep-deprived mate who comes home from work too tired to talk, but it's harder to grasp that social overstimulation can be just as exhausting. It's also hard for introverts to understand just how hurtful their silence can be. I ~ Susan Cain

When the excessively shy force themselves to be forward, they are frequently surprisingly unsubtle and overdirect and even rude: they have entered an extreme region beyond their normal personality, an area of social crime where gradations don't count; unavailable to them are the instincts and taboos that booming extroverts, who know the territory of self-advancement far better, can rely on. ~ Nicholson Baker

In other words, the four-month-olds who thrashed their arms like punk rockers did so not because they were extroverts in the making, but because their little bodies reacted strongly - they were "high-reactive" - to new sights, sounds, and smells. The quiet infants were silent not because they were future introverts - just the opposite - but because they had nervous systems that were unmoved by novelty. The ~ Susan Cain

Why do extroverts have voicemail? To never miss a call.

Why do introverts have voicemail? To never answer the phone. ~ Devora Zack

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 meeting new people, skiing slippery slopes, and cranking up the stereo. ~ Susan Cain

I love introvert people. They ignore us on face unlike the extrovert's alter ego ~ Bhavik Sarkhedi

We [of Thelema] are whole-hearted extroverts; the penalty of restricting oneself is anything from neurosis to down right lunacy; in particular, melancholia. ~ Aleister Crowley

At least a third of the world's population are introverts. While they can pretend to be extroverts for a while, frankly, the task is exhausting. I hope Charlotte accurately portrayed the complexities of this personality. Contrary to common belief, introverts are not necessarily shy. They are not misanthropists. Though they gain energy from solitude and quiet, they don't always like to be by themselves. They are, however, wonderful observers of the world around them, are quite self- aware, and prefer deep conversations to small talk. They are also inclined to think that there's something seriously wrong with them. Many times they desperately hope that if they just try hard enough, they'll be able to be like everyone else. I should know. I am one. Perhaps my novels always speak to questions of worth because so often I doubt my own. ~ Mitchell, Siri

technically, her last disaster hadn't been her fault she knew another accident would get her fired. Her brief was to be invisible, and she considered herself perfectly qualified for the job. In a world where extroverts were celebrated, she was an introvert. She'd spent most of her life blending into the background. First in the playground, where she'd hidden away in books written by other people, and then at college, when she'd hidden in the books she'd written herself. Lost in her own fictional world, she became each and every one of her heroines and endowed them with qualities she herself coveted, namely courage, communication skills and coordination. Her current creation was Lara Striker, small-town girl finally returning home and trying to live down her badgirl reputation. Matilda stared through the crowd, her mind ~ Sarah Morgan

Many introverts feel there's something wrong with them, and try to pass as extroverts. But whenever you try to pass as something you're not, you lose a part of yourself along the way. You especially lose a sense of how to spend your time. ~ Susan Cain

When you spend too much time battling your own
nature, the opposite happens: you deplete yourself. I've met too
many people living lives that didn't suit them - introverts with
frenetic social schedules and extroverts with jobs that required
them to sit in front of their computers for hours at a stretch.
We all have to do things that don't come naturally... some of the time. But it shouldn't be all the time. It shouldn't even be most of the time. ~ Susan Cain

The second difference between the introvert and the extrovert is how they experience external stimulation. Extroverts like to experience a lot, and introverts like to know a lot about what they experience. ~ Marti Olsen Laney

They say that extroverts are unhappier than introverts and have to compensate for this by constantly proving to themselves how happy and contented and at ease with life they are. ~ Paulo Coelho

I'm reserved. I'm more of an introvert than an extrovert. ~ Nicole Kidman

While extroverts tend to attain leadership in public domains, introverts tend to attain leadership in theoretical and aesthetic fields. ~ Susan Cain

Introvert conversations are like jazz, where each player gets to solo for a nice stretch before the other player comes in and does his solo. And like jazz, once we get going, we can play all night. Extrovert conversations are more like tennis matches, where thoughts are batted back and forth, and players need to be ready to respond. Introverts get winded pretty quickly. ~ Laurie A. Helgoe

We are different personality types with different needs and motivations. In our culture, different is scary. Extroverts have laid claim on the definition of normal, leaving introverts to feel guilty for not fitting in. While ~ Michaela Chung

Nor are introverts necessarily shy. Shyness is the fear of social disapproval or humiliation, while introversion is a preference for environments that are not overstimulating. Shyness is inherently painful; introversion is not. One reason that people confuse the two concepts is that they sometimes overlap (though psychologists debate to what degree). Some psychologists map the two tendencies on vertical and horizontal axes, with the introvert-extrovert spectrum on the horizontal axis, and the anxious-stable spectrum on the vertical. With this model, you end up with four quadrants of personality types: calm extroverts, anxious (or impulsive) extroverts, calm introverts, and anxious introverts. In other words, you can be a shy extrovert, like Barbra Streisand, who has a larger-than-life personality and paralyzing stage fright; or a non-shy introvert, like Bill Gates, who by all accounts keeps to himself but is unfazed by the opinions of others. ~ Susan Cain

It turned out that the introverts who were especially good at acting like extroverts tended to score high for a trait that psychologists call "self-monitoring." Self-monitors are highly skilled at modifying their behavior to the social demands of a situation. They look for cues to tell them how to act. ~ Susan Cain

Extroverts are not superior to introverts, and vice versa. We are different personality types with different needs and motivations. In our culture, different is scary. Extroverts have laid claim on the definition of normal, leaving introverts to feel guilty for not fitting in. ~ Michaela Chung

Shyness is a symptom of and a punishment for thinking too little of and too much about yourself. ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Quiet demonstrates just how deep and disturbing is this plague of extroverts - the showoffs, risk-takers, salesmen, charmers, charlatans and politicians." - New York Post ~ Susan Cain

Powerful people do not have good listening skills. They hate to listen. They succeed by getting good at faking it ... If you're an extrovert, you think while you're talking. And it's impossible to listen to someone if you are thinking of the next thing you want to say. ~ Penelope Trunk

In a world where extroverts were celebrated, she was an introvert. ~ Sarah Morgan

I'm an introvert. Introverts have a huge advantage over extroverts. We can create a mission and we can act on it. ~ Jeb Bush

And I repeat, you're nice to everybody. You give away nice like it doesn't cost you anything."
Levi laughed. "It doesn't cost me anything. It's not like smiling at strangers exhausts my overall supply."
"Well, it does mine."
"I'm not you. Making people happy makes me feel good. If anything, it gives me more energy for the people I care about. ~ Rainbow Rowell

Introverts keep their best stuff inside - that is, until it is ready. And this drives extroverts crazy! The explanation for the introvert's behavior - and there must be an explanation for this behavior, say the extroverts - is that he or she is antisocial, out of touch, or simply a snob. ~ Laurie A. Helgoe

The most effective leaders are not motivated by a desire to control events or to be in the spotlight. They are motivated by the desire to advance ideas and new ways of looking at the world, or to improve the situation of a group of people. These motivations belong to introverts and extroverts alike. You can achieve these same goals - you can be inspiring and motivational - without compromising your quiet ways. ~ Susan Cain

We have this myth that extroverts are better salespeople. As a result, extroverts are more likely to enter sales; extroverts are more likely to get promoted in sales jobs. But if you look at the correlation between extroversion and actual sales performance - that is, how many times the cash register actually rings - the correlation's almost zero. ~ Daniel H. Pink

Introverts need to trust their gut and share their ideas as powerfully as they can. This does not mean aping extroverts; ideas can be shared quietly, they can be communicated in writing, they can be packaged into highly produced lectures, they can be advanced by allies. The trick for introverts is to honor their own styles instead of allowing themselves to be swept up by prevailing norms. ~ Susan Cain

Introverted seekers need introverted evangelists. It's not that extroverts can't communicate the gospel, either verbally or nonverbally, in ways that introverts find appealing, it's that introverted seekers need to know and see that it's possible to lead the Christian life as themselves. It's imperative for them to understand that becoming a Christian is not tantamount with becoming an extrovert. ~ Adam S. McHugh

I understand perfectly why some of my autistic patients scream and flap their arms
it's to frighten off extroverts ~ Mark Vonnegut

Beware of extroverts in retreat center clothing! ~ Laurie A. Helgoe