Laura Schocker of The Huffington Post has given us a list of outrageously successful introverts, some of which may surprise you.
Emma Watson “It’s interesting, because people say things to me like, ‘It’s really cool that you don’t go out and get drunk all the time and go to clubs,’ and I’m just like, I mean, I appreciate that, but I’m kind of an introverted kind of person just by nature, it’s not like a conscious choice that I’m making necessarily. It’s genuinely who I am.”
Eleanor Roosevelt “Friendship with oneself is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.”
Christina Aguilera “Because, besides being petite, she is, it seems, shy. She tells me that she has always been ‘intense and introverted’ and that, as a result, she’s felt like an outsider her entire life.” (Gaby Wood)
Abraham Lincoln “In the nation’s earlier years it was easier for introverts to earn respect,” Susan Cain said. “America once embodied what the cultural historian Warren Susman called a ‘Culture of Character,’ which valued inner strength, integrity, and the good deeds you performed when no one was looking. You could cut an impressive figure by being quiet, reserved, and dignified.”
David Letterman used to marvel at “the aerodynamic properties of toast.”
J.K. Rowling “The Harry Potter author has described herself as an introvert, particularly when she refers to her childhood.” (Susan Cain)
Bill Gates “Bill Gates is quiet and bookish, but apparently unfazed by others’ opinions of him: he’s an introvert, but not shy.” (Susan Cain)
Courteney Cox “I’m a homebody. I like to have people over, but I’m a little socially not — I don’t love it. David — he doesn’t drink anymore, he’s completely sober — but he likes to go out and dance. He really is a very gregarious guy. He’s very outgoing. I’m much more of an introvert.”
Albert Einstein “The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.”
Mahatma Gandhi “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
Laura Bush From USA Today: “For an admitted introvert, Laura Bush remarkably has evolved into a very effective speaker.”
Rosa Parks “When she died in 2005 at the age of 92, the flood of obituaries recalled her as soft-spoken, sweet, and small in stature. They said she was ‘timid and shy‘ but had ‘the courage of a lion.’ They were full of phrases like ‘radical humility’ and ‘quiet fortitude.‘”
Audrey Hepburn “I’m an introvert … I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.”
Warren Buffett “Success in investing doesn’t correlate with IQ. Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.”
Roy Rogers “I’m an introvert at heart. And show business — even though I’ve loved it so much — has always been hard for me.”
Candice Bergen “I’m an introvert and my husband is like the mayor.”
George Stephanopoulos “Despite my job chatting people up, I’m an introvert.”
I’m thinking of how sound affects introverts. Many introverts complain of noise – often in the workplace, sometimes at home. The other side of that coin is that extraverts seem to enjoy noise. You know how it is when you’re enjoying the silence and some well-meaning extravert turns on the radio.