These introvert quotes will inspire you to embrace your introversion and help you survive in an extroverted world.
In a time when we all feel so busy, seemingly with no time to be off the clock from our many responsibilities, we increasingly hear the word “introvert” thrown around. Often you will also hear its antonym, “extrovert.”
But what does it mean to be an introvert?
Usually, people associate being an introvert with being shy, quiet, and intellectual. Sometimes, they may even assume that an introvert is antisocial or socially awkward.
However, an introvert may have tons of charisma and be completely comfortable at parties or in other large groups. Introverts really just need alone time to recover from the strain of interacting with others.
Meanwhile, extroverts thrive on time spent in the company of other people. As you browse the following introvert quotes, consider whether you identify as more of an introvert or an extrovert.
Introvert quotes for those who prefer quality alone time
1. “I talked to a calzone for fifteen minutes last night before I realized it was just an introverted pizza. I wish all my acquaintances were so tasty.” – Jarod Kintz
2. “I think I’m a weird combination of deeply introverted and very daring. I can feel both those things working.” – Helen Hunt
3. “There is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert. Such a person would be in the lunatic asylum.” – Carl Jung
4. “I would admit I’m an introvert. I don’t know why introverts have to apologize.” – Bill Gross
5. “I am a mild introvert. But I have learned to be a very successful extrovert because if you want impact, you have to work with people.” – Patrick Pichette
6. “I know I seem really friendly, but I’m a closet introvert.” – Lauren Myracle
7. “Introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly.” – Susan Cain
8. “I’m so extroverted. I want to learn how to be introverted, though.” – Denzel Curry
9. “I’m an introverted extrovert. My job sets me apart, but I’m not hammy and don’t need attention.” – Jeremy Scott
10. “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
11. “Directing is extrovert and gregarious; writing is isolating, introverted, and lonely.” – David Farr
12. “I think I am half extroverted and half introverted.” – Sara Schaefer
13. “I’m probably the most introverted extrovert you’ll ever meet. Up until I got this show I was constantly told, ‘She was really good, but she’s just not cute enough.’” – Nikki Cox
14. “Even though I was very shy, I found I could get onstage if I had a new identity.” – David Bowie
15. “I’m quite introverted, but I’m not shy.” – Marian Keyes
Introvert quotes about what it means
16. “People empty me. I have to get away to refill.” – Charles Bukowski (see more Charles Bukowski quotes)
17. “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
18. “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
19. “I am rarely bored alone; I am often bored in groups and crowds.” – Laurie Helgoe
20. “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
21. “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
22. “I’m not harmful, just introspective. You can probably think I’m weird, but it’s not harmful weird.” – Henry Rollins
23. “But generally speaking, I tend to be quiet and introspective.” – Rowan Atkinson
24. “I’m a very analytical person, a somewhat introspective person; that’s the nature of the work I do.” – Joni Mitchell
25. “I always saw myself as this quiet, introspective, thoughtful person.” – Maggie Rogers
26. “I think a lot of great male comic actors are introspective, quiet personalities, which I really admire. But they are really able to turn it up when the camera’s on.” – Peter Dinklage
27. “I loved to make people laugh in high school, and then I found I loved being on stage in front of people. I’m sure that’s some kind of ego trip or a way to overcome shyness. I was very kind of shy and reserved, so there’s a way to be on stage and be performing and balance your life out.” – Steve Martin
28. “I don’t hate people, I just feel better when they aren’t around.” – Charles Bukowski
29. “I don’t want to be alone. I want to be left alone.” – Audrey Hepburn
30. “Introverts live in two worlds: We visit the world of people, but solitude and the inner world will always be our home.” – Jenn Granneman
Introvert quotes about the differences between solitude and loneliness
31. “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 themselves with, something to judge.” – Paulo Coelho
32. “Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.” – Francis Bacon
33. “There’s a difference between solitude and loneliness.” – Maggie Smith
34. “Solitude is painful when one is young, but delightful when one is more mature. – Albert Einstein
35. “I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.” – Henry David Thoreau
36. “One can be instructed in society, one is inspired only in solitude.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
37. “The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude.” – Aldous Huxley
38. “When from our better selves we have too long been parted by the hurrying world, and droop. Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired, how gracious, how benign is solitude.” – William Wordsworth
39. “Solitude is fine, but you need someone to tell you that solitude is fine.” – Honore de Balzac
40. “There’s a difference between solitude and loneliness. I can understand the concept of being a monk for a while.” – Tom Hanks
41. “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
42. “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
43. “I want to be alone… with someone else who wants to be alone.” – Dimitri Zaik
44. “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
45. “I restore myself when I’m alone.” – Marilyn Monroe
Introvert quotes about being quiet or shy
46. “Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.” – William S. Boroughs
47. “I think a lot, but I don’t say much.” – Anne Frank
48. “Quiet people have the loudest minds.” – Stephen Hawking
49. “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
50. “Introverts crave meaning so party chitchat feels like sandpaper to our psyche.” – Diane Cameron
51. “I am a minimalist. I like saying the most with the least.” – Bob Newhart
52. “A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live.” – Bertrand Russell
53. “Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent.” – Napoleon Hill
54. “Better to keep quiet and let people think you’re an idiot than speak up and confirm it.” – Rodney Dangerfield
55. “Being introverted, it doesn’t mean necessarily being shy or being afraid of public speaking; it just means that it’s hard for me to interact with people for too long.” – Amy Schumer
56. “I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends’ lives.” – Steven Spielberg
57. “The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly.” – William Wordsworth
58. “I’m very shy really. I spend a lot of time in my room alone reading or writing or watching television.” – Johnny Cash
59. “I know this sounds strange, but as a kid, I was really shy. Painfully shy. The turning point was freshman year, when I was the biggest geek alive. No one, I mean no one, even talked to me.” – Jim Carrey
60. “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools speak because they have to say something.” – Plato
Can you be both an introvert and an extrovert?
Carl Jung, an important psychologist, first introduced the ideas of introversion and extroversion. He felt that most people would fall somewhere in the middle, but lean toward being an introvert or an extrovert.
More recently, many people have been talking about the idea of being an “ambivert,” which would describe a person who is able to use extroverted traits when needed, or act more like an introvert at other times.
However you identify, it is important to know that being an introvert does not always mean you are shy, quiet, or antisocial. It usually just means you prefer quality alone time that lets you recharge and regenerate that energy to be social later on. This may help you understand yourself better, or perhaps help you relate to someone else who is important to you.
What’s your biggest takeaway from these introvert quotes? Do you have any other favorite quotes to add? Let us know in the comment section below.
