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I am very troubled by the tendency to define introverts by what they lack. Introversion is a preference, not a fallback plan.

But generally speaking, I tend to be quiet and introspective.

A widely held, but rarely articulated, belief in our society is that the ideal self is bold, alpha, gregarious. Introversion is viewed somewhere between disappointment and pathology.

Introverts like being introverts. We are drawn to ideas, we are passionate observers, and for us, solitude is rich and generative.

There is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert. Such a person would be in the lunatic asylum.

Some introverts are perfectly comfortable with public speaking; I'm not one of them.

At the root of the shy temperament is a deep fear of social judgment, one so severe it can sometimes be crippling. Introverted people don't worry unduly about whether they'll be found wanting, they just find too much socializing exhausting and would prefer either to be alone or in the company of a select few people.

When someone speaks to an introvert, her brain responds with a high level of activity. It is as if several lights start flashing on a control panel.

I wasn't always this introverted.

For those of us who aren't great with people, we figure that silence is always the safest bet. If you're an introvert, you spend so much of your time wishing that other people would just shut the hell up that you figure you're doing everyone a favor.