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Quiet

The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

SUSAN CAIN'S NEW BOOK, BITTERSWEET, IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW

Quiet, the Sunday Times and New York Times Bestseller by Susan Cain, will permanently change how we see introverts - and how you see yourself.

Our lives are driven by a fact most of us can't name and don't understand: whether we're an introvert or an extrovert. This defines who our friends and lovers are, which careers we choose, and whether we blush when we're embarrassed.

At least a third of us are on the introverted side. Some of the world's most talented people are introverts. Without them, we wouldn't have the Apple computer, the theory of relativity and Van Gogh's sunflowers.
Yet extroverts have taken over. Shyness, sensitivity and seriousness are often seen as being negative. Introverts feel reproached for being the way they are.

In Quiet, Susan Cain shows how the brain chemistry of introverts and extroverts differs, and how society misunderstands and undervalues introverts. She gives introverts the tools to better understand themselves and take full advantage of their strengths.

'I can't get Quiet out of my head. It is an important book - so persuasive and timely and heartfelt it should inevitably effect change in schools and offices' Jon Ronson, The Guardian

'Susan Cain's Quiet has sparked a quiet revolution...perhaps rather than sitting back and asking people to speak up, managers and company leaders might lean forward and listen' Megan Walsh, The Times

'Quiet is a very timely book...maybe the extrovert ideal is no longer as powerful as it was; perhaps it is time we all stopped to listen to the still, small voice of calm' Daisy Goodwin, The Sunday Times

© Susan Cain 2012 (P) Penguin Audio 2013

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Critic reviews

Marvellous. The most important book published for a decade (Lynne Truss)
Quiet is a very timely book, and Cain's central thesis is fresh and important. Maybe the extrovert ideal is no longer as powerful as it was; perhaps it is time we all stopped to listen to the still, small voice of calm (Daisy Goodwin)
Susan Cain's Quiet has sparked a quiet revolution. In our booming culture, hers is a still, small voice that punches above its weight. Perhaps rather than sitting back and asking people to speak up, managers and company leaders might lean forward and listen (Megan Walsh)
I can't get Quiet out of my head. It is an important book - so persuasive and timely and heartfelt it should inevitably effect change in schools and offices (Jon Ronson)
A startling, important, and readable page-turner
All stars
Most relevant
This book gave me many, many moments of recognition. As Susan Cain points out in "Quiet", we live in an extrovert (often spelled extrAvert!) dominated culture, where being a gregarious, articulate "team-player" is seen as healthy, while preferring quiet, solitude, and having a rich interior life makes you a wallflower and a party pooper. This is "The New Groupthink", a prejudice which infects our education system, recruitment, employment practices, social life, mental health, indeed almost every aspect of Western culture. (Google "New Groupthink" for an excellent article by SC in the NY Times). Yet, new evidence cited in the book shows that we are more creative on our own, than working in teams. Einstein, Newton and Darwin were all introverts working alone. Brainstorming is a typical example of the myth of group creativity - it is less effective at generating new ideas than solitary individuals. Yet, institutions from the Evangelical Church to the Harvard Business School strongly select for extroversion, preferring confident talkers to the thoughtful wisdom of their more reticent introverted colleagues. However, the message of the book is positive. It is that extroverts and introverts need each other in order to thrive - a beautiful symbiosis, frustrated only by our failure to appreciate each others differing needs for sociability or solitude. Of course, we can adapt, if important to us, and the book outlines ways we do this such as "situated traits" theory, but it is always something of a strain. Finally, the book offers some sound advice for us 30-50% of the population who are introverts, as well as the spouses, bosses and parents of introverts, to play to their strengths, rather than try to change them. It's like being left handed used to be. Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, this book does much to expose one of the most under-appreciated prejudices of our culture "The New Groupthink". Well narrated, it is an enjoyable book everyone should read.

At last! Introverts speak up against "groupthink"

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This book left me feeling deeply grateful to have found it. Such was the indoctrination in my life that introverts have something wrong with them that, as an introvert, I just accepted this view as fact! So the message of this book - that introversion is a valid and valuable way of being - came as a relief to say the least. I feel calm, liberated, validated and respected having read this book.

This book is a wonderful gift for all introverts who may even feel ashamed of their personality type! Read it and weep for joy!

Kathe Mazur's narration was excellent: enjoyable, warm and tuned for the subject.

And if you are the author reading this: from my heart, thank you!

Insightful - a whole new perspective

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Where does Quiet rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book put into words something I've been struggling to understand about myself and my relationships for years. For example why I need to rest after spending time with people. Or the fact that I find it hard to spread my attention over multiple projects and instead throw myself full-on into things that I feel passionate about. I always identified as an introvert but saw it as a kind of failing. Now I realise that my psychological and even neurological make up really is different from most people's but that it's a kind of gift. Thank you Susan Cain!

Finally my struggles make sense

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Very interesting coverage of introverted and extroverted people and how they can be best understood

fantasticly deep insights into everyday people

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For the quiet amongst us this is the definitive book on understanding on introversion in the modern world and how to cope.

Essential reading for introverts

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