Susan Cain: "We are like rubber bands..."

“We are like rubber bands at rest. We are elastic and can stretch ourselves, but only so far.”

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Steve Wozniak: "Most inventors and engineers..."

“Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me – they’re shy and they live in their heads. They’re almost like artists. In fact, the very best of them are artists.  And artists work best alone where they can control an invention’s design without a lot of other people designing it for marketing or some other committee. I don’t believe anything really revolutionary has been invented by committee. If you’re that rare engineer who’s an inventor and also an artist, I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: Work alone. You’re going to be best able to design revolutionary products and features if you’re working on your own. Not on a committee. Not on a team.”

— from Steve Wozniak's memoir iWoz, quoted in Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain: "...quiet midnights..."

“…quiet midnights and solitary sunrises…”

 
—Description of the late nights and early mornings that Steve Wozniak worked alone from Susan Cain's, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain: "I worry that there are..."

“I worry that there are people who are put in position of authority because they’re good talkers, but they don’t have good ideas… It’s so easy to confuse schmoozing ability with talent… we put too much of a premium on presenting and not enough on substance and critical thinking.”

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain: "In the United States..."

"In the United States, conversation is about how effective you are at turning your experiences into stories, whereas a Chinese person might be concerned with taking up too much of the other person’s time with inconsequential information."

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain: "Americans responded to these..."

"Americans responded to these pressures by trying to become salesmen who could sell not only their company’s latest gizmo but also themselves."

—Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking