107 Introvert Quotes for People Who Harness Their Power from Within

Are you an introvert trying to make sense of the fast-paced world you're in? Or are you an extrovert just trying to understand your introverted friends? Introversion can often be misunderstood as shyness or aloofness. Either way, these 20 quotes will give you more insight into the quiet power of introverts.

Introverts are often perceived to be aloof or disinterested. Introverts can also often feel ashamed about their desire to be by themselves or with a small group of people. But there is a lot of power in being an introvert.

Studies have shown that introversion can be a source of deep, reflective thought. They have also demonstrated that introverts tend to be better listeners.

Some of the most iconic people in history were introverts, like Albert Einstein. So instead of trying to change an introvert's reserved nature and dislike of large crowds, learn a little more about the quiet power of introverts with these 107 quotes.

Susan Cain's quote: “Don’t think of introversion as something that needs to be cured… Spend your free time the way you like, not the way you think you’re supposed to.” | Image: AmoDays

"Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.” — Pablo Picasso

“Deep inside, she knew who she was, and that person was smart and kind and often even funny, but somehow her personality always got lost somewhere between her heart and her mouth, and she found herself saying the wrong thing or, more often, nothing at all.” — Julia Quinn

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” — Carl Gustav Jung

“‘Come out of your shell’ — that noxious expression which fails to appreciate that some animals naturally carry shelter everywhere they go and some humans are just the same.” — Susan Cain

Marcus Aurelius's quote: “Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”| Image: AmoDays

QUOTES FROM SELF-PROFESSED INTROVERTS

“I’m very picky with whom I give my energy. I prefer to reserve my time, intensity, and spirit exclusively to those who reflect sincerity.” — Dau Voire

“I think a lot, but I don’t say much.” — Anne Frank

“I was never less alone than when by myself.” — Edward Gibbon

“I don’t want to be alone. I want to be left alone.” — Audrey Hepburn

“I was never less alone than when by myself.” — Edward Gibbon

Sudan Cain's quote: "Turns out, embracing their quiet nature does not cause introverts to flee to a shack in the woods. It empowers them to engage with the world — but on their own terms." | Image: AmoDays

“As a child, I suppose I was not quite normal. My happiest times were when I was left alone in the house on a Saturday.” — Charles Bukowski

“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, and the sky.” — Audrey Hepburn

“You may think I’m small, but I have a universe inside my mind.” —Yoko Ono

“I owe everything that I have done to the fact that I am very much at ease being alone.” — Marilynne Robinson

“Don’t come to my house unannounced. I will stare at you from my window.” — TheRockle.com

Jenn Granneman's quote: “Introverts live in two worlds: We visit the world of people, but solitude and the inner world will always be our home.” | Image: AmoDays

“My imagination functions much better when I don’t have to speak to people.” — Patricia Highsmith

“I need space from a world that is filled with millions of mouths that talk too much but never have anything to say.” — Kaitlin Foster

“I want to be alone… with someone else who wants to be alone.” — Dimitri Zaik

“You only know part of me. I am a universe full of secrets.” — Lupytha Hermin

INSPIRATIONAL INTROVERT QUOTES

“Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.” — William S. Boroughs

Dimitri Zaik's quote: “I want to be alone… with someone else who wants to be alone.” | Image: AmoDays

“Don’t think of introversion as something that needs to be cured… Spend your free time the way you like, not the way you think you’re supposed to.” — Susan Cain

“The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. Those who walk alone are likely to find themselves in places no one has ever been before.” — Francis Phillip Wernig

“Don’t underestimate me because I’m quiet. I know more than I say, think more than I speak, and observe more than you know.” — Michaela Chung

“It’s not because I don’t want to look at you. It’s that I don’t want to be seen.” — Jonathan Lethem

“Introverts live in two worlds: We visit the world of people, but solitude and the inner world will always be our home.” — Jenn Granneman

Albert Einstein's quote: “The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulate the creative mind.” | Image: AmoDays

“Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.” — Anne Lamott

"Your solitude will be a support and a home for you, even in the midst of very unfamiliar circumstances, and from it, you will find all your paths.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“Let’s clear one thing up: Introverts do not hate small talk because we dislike people. We hate small talk because we hate the barrier it creates between people.” — Laurie Helgoe

“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but like everybody else, it must be in my own way.” — Jane Austen

“Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living.” — Albert Einstein

Charles Bukowski's quote: “As a child, I suppose I was not quite normal. My happiest times were when I was left alone in the house on a Saturday.”| Image: AmoDays

“Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone — that is the secret of invention: be alone, that is when ideas are born.” — Nikola Tesla

“Blessed are those who do not fear solitude, who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse them with, and something to judge.” — Paulo Coelho

“Stay true to your own nature. If you like to do things in a slow and steady way, don’t let others make you feel as if you have to race. If you enjoy depth, don’t force yourself to seek breadth.” — Susan Cain

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Amit K Ghosh's quote: “Introverts are dependent on their own inside noise, extroverts are dependent on outside noise. The outputs are dependent on the quality of those noises.”| Image: AmoDays

“People are always so boring when they band together. You have to be alone to develop all the idiosyncrasies that make a person interesting.” — Andy Warhol

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” — Aristotle

WITTY INTROVERT QUOTES

“Silence is beautiful, not awkward. The human tendency to be afraid of something beautiful is awkward.” — Elliot Kay

“Introverts are word economists in a society suffering from verbal diarrhea.” — Michaela Chung

“My alone feels so good, I’ll only have you if you’re sweeter than my solitude.” — Warsan Shire

William S. Boroughs' quote: “Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.” | Image: AmoDays

“People inspire you, or they drain you — pick them wisely.” — Hans F. Hansen

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” — Henry David Thoreau

“You might be an introvert if you were ready to go home before you left the house.” — Criss Jami

“A bore is someone who deprives you of solitude without providing you with the company.” — Oscar Wilde

“There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.” — Susan Cain

Aristotle's quote: “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”| Image: AmoDays

“Sometimes I just shut down and don’t talk to anyone for days. It’s nothing personal.” — Sonya Teclai

“Kindly remove yourself from my personal space. Thanks.” — Gemma Correll

“I prefer tongue-tied knowledge to ignorant loquacity.” — Cicero

“I don’t believe anything really revolutionary has ever been invented by committee… I’m going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: Work alone… Not on a committee. Not on a team.” — Steve Wozniak

“Alone had always felt like an actual place to me, as if it weren’t a state of being, but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I really was.” — Cheryl Strayed

Emma Watson's quote: “Don’t feel stupid if you don’t like what everyone else pretends to love.” | Image: AmoDays

QUOTES ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN INTROVERT

“There is a tremendous difference between alone and lonely. You could be lonely in a group of people. I like being alone. I like eating by myself. I go home at night and just watch a movie or hang out with my dog. I have to exert myself and really say, oh God, I’ve got to see my friends because I’m too content by myself.” — Drew Barrymore

“In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone.” — Rollo May

“When you’re an introvert like me and you’ve been lonely for a while, and then you find someone who understands you, you become really attached to them. It’s a real release.” — Lana Del Rey

“I don’t have time for superficial friends, I suppose if you’re really lonely you can call a superficial friend, but otherwise, what’s the point?” — Courtney Cox

“Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me. They’re shy and they live in their heads. The very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone…” — Steve Wozniak

Maxime Lagacé's quote: “Live your life the way you want, not the way society tells you.” | Image: AmoDays

“What a lovely surprise to finally discover how unlonely being alone can be.” — Ellen Burstyn

“If you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.” — Jodi Picoult

“Writing is something you do alone. It’s a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it.” — John Green

“For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating.” — Jonathan Rauch

“Quiet people have the loudest minds.” — Stephen Hawking

Laurie Helgoe's quote: “Isn’t it refreshing to know that what comes perfectly natural for you is your greatest strength? Your power is in your nature. You may not think it’s a big deal that you can spend hours immersed in something that interests you — alone — but the extrovert next door has no idea how you do it.” | Image: AmoDays

“Isn’t it refreshing to know that what comes perfectly natural for you is your greatest strength? Your power is in your nature. You may not think it’s a big deal that you can spend hours immersed in something that interests you — alone — but the extrovert next door has no idea how you do it.” — Laurie Helgoe

“Companionship is a foreign concept to some people. They fear it as much as the majority of people fear loneliness.” — Criss Jami

“Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone.” — Paul Tillich

“An introvert may feel asocial when pressured to go to a party that doesn’t interest her. But for her, the event does not promise meaningful interaction. In fact, she knows that the party will leave her feeling more alone and alienated.” — Laurie Helgoe

“I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” — Henry David Thoreau

Kaitlin Foster's quote: “I need space from a world that is filled with millions of mouths that talk too much but never have anything to say.” | Image: AmoDays

“I really like to stay in my nest and not move. I travel in my mind, and that’s a rigorous state of journeying for me. My body isn’t that interested in moving from place to place.” — Bell Hooks

“What if you love knowledge for its own sake, not necessarily as a blueprint to action? What if you wish there were more, not fewer reflective types in the world.” — Susan Cain

“The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.” — Aldous Huxley

“Quiet people have the loudest minds.” — Stephen Hawking

Emma Watson's quote: “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.’ I appreciate that, but I’m kind of an introverted kind of person just by nature.” | Image: AmoDays

“Introverts crave meaning so party chitchat feels like sandpaper to our psyche.” — Diane Cameron

“Nobody enjoys the company of others as intensely as someone who usually avoids the company of others.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana

“The highest form of love is to be the protector of another person’s solitude.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.” — Audrey Hepburn

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Steve Wozniak's quote: “Most inventors and engineers I’ve met are like me. They’re shy and they live in their heads. The very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone…” | Image: AmoDays

“How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here forever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves, myself being myself.” — Virginia Wolf

“Are introverts arrogant? Hardly. I suppose this common misconception has to do with our being more intelligent, more reflective, more independent, more level-headed, more refined, and more sensitive than extroverts.” — Jonathan Rauch

“Understand that half the game is keeping quiet, and carefully watching those around you.” — Robert Greene

“Live your life the way you want, not the way society tells you.” — Maxime Lagacé

“After an hour or two of being socially on, we introverts need to turn off and recharge. This isn’t antisocial. It isn’t a sign of depression.” — Jonathan Rauch

Mokokoma Mokhonoana's quote: “Nobody enjoys the company of others as intensely as someone who usually avoids the company of others.” | Image: AmoDays

QUOTES ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF INTROVERSION

“[Introverts] listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often feel as if they express themselves better in writing than in conversation. They tend to dislike conflict. Many have a horror for small talk, but enjoy deep discussions.” — Susan Cain

“You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still, and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.” — Franz Kafka

“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.” — Marcus Aureliu

“I think the best thing I have is the introvert's ability to listen when you're working on something as complicated as this and you have to really be aware of everyone's specialized skills.” — Jennifer Yuh Nelson

"Turns out, embracing their quiet nature does not cause introverts to flee to a shack in the woods. It empowers them to engage with the world — but on their own terms." — Susan Cain

Tom Hanks's quote: “E-mail is far more convenient than the telephone. As far as I’m concerned, I would throw my phone away if I could get away with it.” | Image: AmoDays

“The day I began to live is the day I discovered being an introvert was awesome.” — Maxime Lagacé

“It’s never a good idea to organize society in a way that depletes the energy of half the population. We discovered this with women decades ago, and now it’s time to realize it with introverts.” — Susan Cain

“Extroverts sparkle, introverts glow. Extroverts are fireworks, introverts are a fire in the hearth.” — Sophia Dembling

“You shouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“E-mail is far more convenient than the telephone. As far as I’m concerned, I would throw my phone away if I could get away with it.” — Tom Hanks

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” | Image: AmoDays

“So, if you are too tired to speak, sit next to me, because I, too, am fluent in silence.” — R. Arnold

“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them, they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds… Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.” — Neil Gaiman

“Don’t feel stupid if you don’t like what everyone else pretends to love.” — Emma Watson

“People empty me. I have to get away to refill.” — Charles Bukowski

“Our culture made a virtue of living only as extroverts. We discouraged the inner journey, the quest for a center. So we lost our center and have to find it again.” — Anais Nin

Audrey Hepburn's quote: “I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.” | Image: AmoDays

“The world needs to accept introversion as normal. The world should stop associating introversion with mental illness.” — Mitta Xinindlu

“You're one of those who has to tune the world out and focus on one thing at a time. We have a word for that down here, women like you. Inside one. It means you live inside your head and to step out of it hurts like a caning.” — Rivers Solomon

“I don’t hate people. I just feel better when they are not around.” — Charles Bukowski

“My idea of a fun night was diving into a massive pile of To Be Read books stacked near my dresser.” — Jeff Sampson

“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.’ I appreciate that, but I’m kind of an introverted kind of person just by nature.” — Emma Watson

Sonya Teclai's quote: “Sometimes I just shut down and don’t talk to anyone for days. It’s nothing personal.” | Image: AmoDays

“Accept everything about yourself — I mean everything. You are you and that is the beginning and the end — no apologies, no regrets.” — Clark Moustakas

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi

“The most important thing to know about being an introvert is that there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re not broken because you’re quiet. It’s okay to stay home on a Friday night instead of going to a party. Being an introvert is a perfectly normal ‘thing’ to be.” — Jenn Granneman

“So many people are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only you were interested in them.” — Sylvia Plath

“Introverts are dependent on their own inside noise, extroverts are dependent on outside noise. The outputs are dependent on the quality of those noises.” — Amit K Ghosh

Hans F. Hansen's quote: “People inspire you, or they drain you — pick them wisely.” | Image: AmoDays

“While extroverts are verbal processors, who speak as they think, introverts need to think before we speak. This leads to a slower, more thoughtful communication style that involves fewer words, and longer pauses.” — Michaela Chung

“As an introvert, you can be your own best friend or your worst enemy. The good news is we generally like our own company, a quality that extroverts often envy. We find comfort in solitude and know how to soothe ourselves.” — Laurie Helgoe

“You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.” — Warren Buffett

“The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulate the creative mind.” — Albert Einstein

“Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent.” — Napoleon Hill

Susan Cain's quote: “Stay true to your own nature. If you like to do things in a slow and steady way, don’t let others make you feel as if you have to race. If you enjoy depth, don’t force yourself to seek breadth.”| Image: AmoDays

The fact is, no one is ever a pure introvert or extrovert. Our individual uniqueness can help us adapt to different situations to suit our purpose. So to every introvert out there, go forth and choose yourself! And to every extrovert, introverts love you even though you tend to talk a lot!

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