#introversion

This is why it is sometimes hard for introverts to find words: we really hate to compromise, and words are always a compromise. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

A good rule of thumb is that any environment that consistently leaves you feeling bad about who you are is the wrong environment. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

Regardless of how dead we feel in a crowd, we cling to the uniquely American assumption that associating is good and necessary and solitude is suspect. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

If you retreat in response to desire rather than deprivation, the deprivation may never come. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

I’m one of those introverts with well-honed social skills, and I have even danced on the occasional table, but I have felt sheer panic when my exhaustion precedes my exit. It’s like the Cinderella story with a twist: I want to get out of there and into my duds before midnight—or ten, or eight. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

I prefer to interact with people one-on-one. Any more than that, and the dynamic becomes competitive. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

Our challenge as introverts is to adopt the attitude, based on the introversion assumption, that your need to retreat requires no explanation—it is self-evident. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#attitude

The Socially Accessible introvert looks like an extrovert on the outside and sees extroversion as a bar that he or she can never quite reach. These individuals are often very successful in social arenas, but fault themselves for not having more fun. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

Somebody put a drop under a magnifying-glass and it was all semicolons and parentheses. ↗

— George Eliot

#life

...according to the prevailing extroversion assumption, inviting you is a nice gesture, and pressuring you is a compliment—an indication that you are wanted. How many times have you equivocated on or even declined an invitation, only to be asked again—and again? ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life