I Look Back On My Years As

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.

We Don’t Ask Why God Chose As His Prophet A Stutterer With A Public Speaking Phobia. But We Should. The Book Of Exodus Is Short On Explication, But Its Stories Suggest That Introversion Plays Yin To The Yang Of Extroversion; That The Medium Is Not Always The Message; And That People Followed Moses Because His Words Were Thoughtful, Not Because He Spoke Them Well.

Women Were Also Urged To Work On A Mysterious Quality Called 'fascination.' Coming Of Age In The 1920's Was A Competitive Business.

Remember That Introverts React Not Only To New People, But Also To New Places And Events. So Don’t Mistake A Child’s Caution In New Situations For An Inability To Relate To Others. He’s Recoiling From Novelty Or Overstimulation, Not From Human Contact. Introverts Are Just As Likely As The Next Kid To Seek Others’ Company, Though Often In Smaller Doses

Or At School You Might Have Been Prodded To Come “out Of Your Shell”—that Noxious Expression Which Fails To Appreciate That Some Animals Naturally Carry Shelter Everywhere They Go, And That Some Humans Are Just The Same.