#intro

To express want is to own the desire, to stand in your own reality. The easier alternative is the language of impairment: “I can’t come because I’m run down, overworked, under the gun, tired, sick, or not up to it.” The underlying message is, “I cannot attend because I am impaired,” rather than the more honest and self-respecting response: “I choose to not attend because I prefer the other option. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

...efforts to make work fun only annoy most of us, especially the introvert. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

For the introvert, as for the flâneur, observing is not a fallback position—something we do because we can’t participate. We watch because we want to. There is something wonderfully grounding about remaining still as others mull about—or mulling about while others remain still. Against the backdrop of the scene, the introvert feels more like an “I. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

Although most introverts seek time alone as an alternative to people and competition, solitude is a power source for the introvert. And for someone wanting to exert control, solitude is indeed threatening. Many sales schemes rely on “today only” impulse purchases because “sleeping on it” will help you realize that you don’t need the product. Cults gain their power by depriving members of any time alone. Clients in my office comment on what a difference it makes to have time to think, and value psychotherapy for its attention to inner processes. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

I’m not so sure that live is always better. It is part of the extrovert assumption to value interaction over inner action. Most introverts savor live time with a close friend, because they know there will be plenty of inner action for both of them. But much of what we call “social” in America allows for very little inner action. Emailing a friend or posting a blog entry will probably feel much richer, and help us feel much closer, than being up close and impersonal. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

Soups are a great way to introduce a lot of vegetables to kids. Stir-fries, too, because they contain so many different shapes and colors. ↗

— Emeril Lagasse

#colors #contain #different #different shapes #great

I was introduced to Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson. The young Congressman was very friendly. ↗

— Erich Leinsdorf

#friendly #i #introduced #johnson #lyndon

We are to introduce our people into the life of the Church, which is salvation, that they may grasp its meaning, its contents and purpose, to taste and see how good the Lord is. ↗

— Arthur Middleton

#contents #good #grasp #how #into

Solitude is not lack. ↗

— Laurie Helgoe

#life

I just realized my lips are inside out. They should be turned inwards, because I spend most of my time talking to myself. 
 ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#communication #inside-out #introvert #lips #lunatic