Susan Cain
@susancain
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#1 bestselling books, QUIET & BITTERSWEET. Read the Quiet Life newsletter for art, ideas, consolations & candlelight: https://t.co/20MGwXiHrh
Joined October 2008
One week to go until #Bittersweet, an @OprahsBookClub selection, is available in paperback!. Don’t forget to preorder and complete this form ( before 6/19 to get your signed bookplate!
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"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need". ~Cicero.Have a magical weekend!.Art and quotation: via @dennismt.#Kindred #Bittersweet #Quiet
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Happy World Introvert Day!! . I will be celebrating by getting into a flow state (hopefully) outlining my next book. (To mark the occasion, here is a photo of me in flow when I was outlining Quiet. :)). How will you spend the day?
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7 simple life-improving things:.1. Breathe deeply, often. 2. Drink a lot of water. 3. Eat real food. 4. Always get a good night’s sleep. 5. Be kind to yourself. 6. Realize that you're not your thoughts. 7. When you feel sad or anxious, take action (try taking a walk).
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The Quiet Revolution WEBSITE HAS LAUNCHED!! Please visit and let me know what you think: http://t.co/03u8UvE2u0 Many, many versions to come!.
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Yesterday I was having computer issues that caused much sighing and cursing, and my ten year old slipped me this note.
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“The cruel always believe the kind are weak. But human decency and goodness can also move human affairs.”. —David Frum.
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Advice we don't hear enough: just because you're good at something doesn't mean it's what you should spend your time doing. Sometimes competence, and the rewards/praise it brings, can send you in the wrong direction, or trap you in the wrong place.
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"Sit in a room and read—and read and read. And read the right books by the right people. Your mind is brought onto that level, and you have a nice, mild, slow-burning rapture all the time." -Joseph Campbell
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Lately, people keep using the word "quiet" to mean "passive-aggressive" or "something bad that sneaks up on you" - as in, "quiet quitting" or "the quiet catastrophe of loneliness.". HERE IS ITS TRUE MEANING. I hope you find some quiet this weekend -- and kindred spirits who know
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“Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living.”.―Albert Einstein (via @sbkaufman)
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Now that I’m here, I can't see why middle age gets such a bad rap. I think it’s the best of all possible times. You still have your health and vibrancy (hopefully) but the shadows are lengthening enough that you stop to notice the beauty in everything. Photo: Jeremy Barlow
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So thrilled to share w you my brand new TED talk on “The hidden power of sad songs and rainy days”: I truly hope that you find it of value, esp during these troubling times. & if you have any thoughts or questions about the talk, I’d love to know them!
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“Elon [Musk] has always been an introvert thinker….So where a lot of people would go to a great party & talk about all sorts of things like rugby or sport, you'd find Elon had found the person's library & was going through their books.” — Errol Musk (Elon’s father). Just saying.
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For this New Years I wish for you to figure out what is the activity that most reliably sends you into a flow state and to rearrange your schedule so that you get to visit that state AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN. What’s your activity going to be?.
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This is one of those things I post with a voice in my head saying "this is too depressing for most people" but then another voice -- my voice -- saying: "It's not depressing, it's beautiful.".It really is, and I hope you find it so. Do you love it as much as I do?.Poem by Wendell
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This is one of the most beautifully expressed, life-altering ideas I know. “I believe that Icarus was not failing as he fell.But just coming to the end of his triumph.”. What if you thought of your “failures” this way?. The poet Jack Gilbert, via @holdengraber .#Bittersweet
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I've started following more artists here, & it's changing my experience, from stress & confusion, to uplift & love. Emotional life is a function of what we pay attention to. You can usually feel sympathy to humans, & willingness to express shared pain, in the gaze of artists.
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To be nobody but.yourself in a world.which is doing its best day and night to make you like.everybody else means to fight the hardest battle.which any human being can fight and never stop fighting. ― E.E. Cummings.
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My father passed away from COVID on Friday night. Here are seven things he taught me by example:
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It’s okay to be alone, to be sad, to rest and repair. Really.
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#Introverts aren't anti-social. We're differently social. A glass of wine with a friend. A quiet holiday with family. Reading a book. Happy #WorldIntrovertDay! How will you spend it?.#Quiet.
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This is why the policy separating kids from parents is so horrifying. It’s bc of the evolutionary origins of human compassion, which comes from our impulse to protect the young. If we can’t cherish kids, we can’t cherish anyone: .
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“Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living.”.―Albert Einstein (via @sbkaufman)
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Here’s a photo of me that my husband Ken just found, from right around the time I left my law firm, 22 years ago. I had no idea that I was about to pick up a lantern that would shine a light on the path to creativity - specifically, on the one core belief that guides every
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If there's anything better than sitting in a seaside cafe, salt on your hair and skin, latte on hand, Bohemian Rhapsody piping in, writing Chapter 4 of your next book. I don't know it. #MomentsInTime.
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This is a good word:.Sonder (from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows). “Sonder n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness. " Via @tferriss.
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"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.".
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So true, that it's a work of art. Graphic by @lizandmollie, whom you should follow for sure. They write and draw (in a v wise & charming way) about the emotions of work. (via Matt Donovan)
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If I told you that there was a very fun thing you could do every day that would make you smarter, healthier, and more empathic, would you want to know what it was (and start doing it)?. There is such a thing. It’s called…reading!
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For all of you who weighed in on my cover design yesterday, huge thanks. Plus, I thought you’d appreciate this new mock-up, courtesy of my friend Amy Cuddy! 😉
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Ha! The truth is that conference organizers often ask me for advice on how to make gatherings more introvert-friendly, and this seems like a great idea. What do you all think?.#introverts #conferences
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Well, I’ve actually, finally, turned in the ENTIRE manuscript of my next book! & now, months of editing. Photo: me at end of a writing day. A bit bleary-eyed, all slightly askew,portable pingpong table inexplicably folded up outside against my office door. But, utterly content.
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It's strange that the popular meaning of the word "myth" is "made-up" and "untrue", when in fact the real meaning of the word myth is "truth via metaphor".
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B/c this world seems too tough for sensitive souls, we conclude that there’s something wrong w/the trait. Not only is this misguided - sensitivity has its advantages - but also: who cares if the trait is ill-suited to an ever-coarsening world? That only makes it more vital.
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I must say that I’m very excited and honored for QUIET to be listed as one of the top ten on this list of “best brainy books of the decade!”.
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I love this graphic so much. For you introverts out there, why are YOU quiet? (via @IntrovertDoodle)
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Well this is just the craziest news! I’ve just been named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices/ Influencers of 2018, along with @richardbranson, @melindagates, and my pals @BreneBrown, @johnsonwhitney, @SanyinSiang, and @bethcomstock. #LinkedInTopVoices
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The key to everything: give yourself permission to be who you really are. #IntrovertLessons101.
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My husband and boys are off to play soccer, I am alone with the rain and my manuscript, life is sweet.
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“I remember my grandfather telling me how each of us must live with a full measure of loneliness that is inescapable, and we must not destroy ourselves with our passion to escape the aloneness.” .— Jim Harrison (via @tferriss)
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Big news! My new book, BITTERSWEET: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, is now avail for pre-order: The book is my answer to this Q: what are the powers of a bittersweet, melancholic outlook, and why has our culture been so blind to its value?
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Most people feel that they become more and more authentic over the course of their lives. I think that the older we get, the less we give a damn who we’re “supposed” to be. True for you? .
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The entire city of Chefchaouen, in Morocco, is painted in blue: the color of sea and sky, mystery and longing. (photographer unknown).#art #beauty #longing #bittersweet
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Dearest Quiet Readers,. We’re re-issuing Quiet with a new color scheme, and I’d love to know your opinion. Can you please tell me whether you prefer the first or second one?. THANK YOU,. Susan
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Friends Who Have Had Trouble Getting Into Meditation, here is your answer! The Waking Up app, by @SamHarrisOrg. And, to get a free month, just go here: and use this code: CAIN (I have zero financial incentive; I just love it and think you should try it).
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I know this feeling SO WELL. Though clearly Yeats had had a little coffee. "“My fiftieth year had come and gone,.I sat, a solitary man,.In a crowded London shop,.An open book and empty cup.On the marble table-top. While on the shop and street I gazed.My body of a sudden blazed;
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Wishing you a beautiful day of thanks. May you be happy. May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be loved. And if this message happens to land during a time when you feel only some, maybe even none, of these things, may the blessings find you just where you are.
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Loved sitting down with @tferriss to talk about overcoming fear, creativity, public speaking, Tim’s experience being bullied, lovingkindness meditation, the writing process, a sneak peek at my next book and at Tim’s next book, and many other things:
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It doesn’t matter whether ur atheist, agnostic, or devout. You don't have to follow any particular faith or wisdom tradition to realize that the sacred & miraculous is everywhere-literally all over the place-even tho we moderns tend to walk around not noticing it. Sujata Setia
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Here’s a peek at some the books I’m reading as I research my next book!
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What’s your life story?. I don’t mean where you grew up, went to school, got your first job, etc. I mean what’s your STORY? What narrative have you constructed from the events of your life?. And do you know that this is one of the most important questions you can ask yourself?.
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This quote, from the psychiatrist Irvin Yalom, really struck me. What he didn’t say, though it’s implied, is that you can keep your goal of a glorious future. “Sometimes I simply remind patients that sooner or later they will have to relinquish the goal of having a better past.”
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My husband bought me this book for me on my birthday, and we both love it so much that now it has pride of place in our entryway. Here are some of the interior pages:. Do any of these specially resonate?
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That moment when an author expresses something you’ve always known, yet never managed to articulate, or never quite so beautifully. That’s why I read, that’s why I write. Art: Jeremy Miranda, acrylic on panel (via @fraveris)
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The world’s greatest emotion may be “moral elevation” — the thrill of witnessing a morally spectacular act. Here you go.
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"One of the simplest — but admittedly hardest — things you can do is simply learn not to give a shit.” @work_matters
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Interesting article, but can we please retire the notion that introversion = lack of warmth? They’re unrelated traits. On the Big 5 personality scale, warmth has to do with how agreeable you are, not how extroverted you are.
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This is really all you need to know:. "To live in this world. you must be able.to do three things:.to love what is mortal;.to hold it. against your bones knowing.your own life depends on it;.and, when the time comes to let it.go,.to let it go.”. —Mary Oliver.
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May you have an infinitely sweet, healthy, and peaceful year. Infinity Room: Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (at the Tate Modern)
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I think we need a word for the unique love we feel for an artist, writer or musician who manages to express, with transcendent beauty, what it’s like to be alive. Does such a word exist, and I’m just not thinking of it?. If not, anyone want to coin a new word for this feeling?.
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I've always been an introvert, obviously, but I really have noticed this shift. You?.
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My fellow #introverts: we always knew we were in great company. Here’s @McIlroyRory - #3 golfer in the world - recommending QUIET!. Such an honor. Thank you, @McIlroyRory.
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The tide is turning against open office plans (and it can’t turn fast enough):.
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Bucket list:.Ease someone’s suffering. Make something beautiful. Find someone to love. Find your way home. Art: The Morning Haze, by Martin Sprusansky
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Here’s an interesting article for all you storytellers out there:
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"Language created 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone and 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone." - Paul Tillich. (via Helen Moran)
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Why introverts are more likely to struggle w/ word retrieval & find it easier to express themselves through writing:
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“If you’re listening, if you’re awake to the poignant beauty of the world, your heart breaks regularly. In fact, your heart is made to break; its purpose is to burst open again and again so that it can hold ever more wonders.” .― Andrew Harvey
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Loved sitting down with @tferriss to talk about overcoming fear, creativity, public speaking, Tim’s experience being bullied, lovingkindness meditation, the writing process, a sneak peek at my next book and at Tim’s next book, and many other things:
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An unedited view of my current night table. Just because. What are you reading right now? Any good recommendations?
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"Childhood is the world of magic, where you see all things as fresh & new. It's where the astonishing is expected, where play is serious, where one believes that everything is endlessly possible. Those who keep this spirit alive are artists, poets, & dreamers.".- Elliott Black,
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This is exactly what I look like (absent the white woolly beard) when reading. What appears to be depression is deep and utter contentment. "The Reader," by Ferdinand Hodler
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BREAKING NEWS! . Dear all, . OK I had to come out of my social media hiatus, to share this thrilling news with you:. BITTERSWEET is going to be a play!! . We’re creating it, even as I write this.
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Because this world seems too tough for sensitive souls, many conclude that there’s something wrong with the trait. But not only is this misguided on its own terms – sensitivity has various evolutionary advantages – but also we should love each other’s sensitivity even if it
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