Quiet

The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

By: Susan Cain

Narrated by: Kathe Mazur

Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Experience the book that started the Quiet Movement and revolutionized how the world sees introverts—and how introverts see themselves—by offering validation, inclusion, and inspiration

“Superbly researched, deeply insightful, and a fascinating read, Quiet is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to understand the gifts of the introverted half of the population.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—People, O: The Oprah Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Inc., Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.

In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, impeccably researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.

©2012 Susan Cain (P)2012 Random House

Critic reviews

2013, Carnegie Medal, Long-listed

2012, Goodreads.com Readers Choice Award for Best Debut Author and Best Nonfiction Book of the Year, Winner

“As an introvert often called upon to behave like an extrovert, I found the information in this book revealing and helpful. Drawing on neuroscientific research and many case reports, Susan Cain explains the advantages and potentials of introversion and of being quiet in a noisy world.” (Andrew Weil, author of Healthy Aging and Spontaneous Happiness)

“Susan Cain has done a superb job of sifting through decades of complex research on introversion, extroversion, and sensitivity—this book will be a boon for the many highly sensitive people who are also introverts.” (Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person)

Validation!

I love this book. I will read it again! Excellent presentation. Shared with my daughter.

The kind of book everyone should read.

Why this book matters?

Because we all know that human beings are a complex beings and we all understand the we difer on each other. However, we underestimate what we know about this differences and treat it with our empiric and superficial knowledge. This way, we do not realize the opportunities we have to connect better with people if we get more understanding about this differences.

By starting with a very known one, introversion trait, it is a great and important step to improve the way we interact and therefore have better relationships in our lifes (personal and professional).

This book show us the history of why western civilization, starting on begining of 20th century, began to value extroversion and introversion became a negative trait seen by western society. In contrast, it then shows the power of introverts (a lot mankind genius were introverts) and how we confuse introversion concept, for instance, with shyness, and other negavite biases. It is rich in history, in examples and thought provoking that will change the way we see the ""quiet"".

Furthermore, It shows how this misconception impacts in our business world, in the way we mistakenly value the extrovers (I'm an extrovert by the way) and undervalue introverts, missing opportunities of having better business impact and results.

So, imho, anyone in a management or leadership position should read this book and better unlock the potential of your team members and partners.

Finally, it also helps to have a new (and better) vision to improve your personal relationships (you will better understand your spouses, family members and friends that are introvers and sometimes act as sudo-extroverts because that is what our western society unfortunately values)."

Great perspective!

This book taught me a lot about intro sets and how Bree understand them. I now have a greater appreciation for different scenarios and conversations I have with my wife and others. Great read.

"An answer to this is found in a study..."

Good info, useful examples. Seems like well-founded conclusions. As an introvert, the content also gave me insight into extroverts through contrast.
Author's frequent approach is to describe a situation, propose a question about either why it is as it is or how to manage it, then segue to a psychological study. They were explained with good clarity without excessive detail, and I find such studies generally interesting, so it was fine. Still, I can see how some could find this pattern annoying.

Fantastic book!

I find myself to be a bit of an ambivert, though through reading this I discovered I do lean more towards introversion than extroversion. The insight Susan Cain provides is powerful and on point. This audio book is a great listen. Good flow, great articulation. When I would rewind, it was only because I wanted to hear again the point she was making (because they were so good)! I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Excellent and Fascinating Read

A book more leaders and parents should read. Ms. Mazur did an exceptional job reading this book.

A topic many should know more about

Being introverted is not a weakness, it is a trait that should be embraced and better understood whether at work or at home.

I bought this by mistake and it was so insightful!

I always thought something was wrong with me because I was so quiet as a child and still quiet and get exhausted with crowds and groups. I understand now and hope I can help my daughter that much more. Ty

Fantastic Read

As an extrovert I wondered if this book would simply extol the virtues of the quieter persuasion and end up making me feel bad about myself. It did nothing of the sort! I gained so much insight and empathy for how introverts are raised and pushed by parents and society to be other than they are. I had no idea! I was also surprised that introverts may make up as little as a third of our population. I work in library science, a traditionally introverted field, and am a hobbyist writer, another predominantly introverted field! I thought surely introverts must outnumber extroverts ten to one. We are certainly fewer and farther between than in the lawyering and business worlds that Cain describes. But I think I must’ve had a unique upbringing being raised by a hadicapable introvert. I was taught to use my voice to make sure everyone got a chance to be heard. To use my social prowess to check in with individuals and make each person as comfortable as possible. I am so grateful to have been made aware at a young age that this world takes all kinds and that just because a person is quiet doesn’t mean anything negative about their personality, value, or the quality of their ideas. To Cain I would say thank you so much for the insight you provide to those of us who have not experienced growing up introverted in our extroverted American society and for the invaluable validation you provide for introverts everywhere to be so affirmed. I want to share this book with everyone I know, introverted and extroverted alike. Beautiful, timely, insightful, much needed.

So insightful

I wish all managers would read this. Our society puts so mush importance on how we say things as opposed to what we say that us quiet people are often discounted. Good advice for living in an outgoing world.