“...ultimately I found my community by pursuing what I loved: writing, acting, art, coffeehouses.”

“Online friends networks and dating sites, like the coffeehouse, are responding to the needs of introverts. We can write, not talk. We can get to the good stuff, and we can press delete as needed.”

“For introverts, the best associations start with ideas. If you don’t feel a part of your neighborhood association or the happy hour regulars after work, don’t force it. The community that surrounds you may not be your community.”

“I believed that if I had the whole story, if I had the opportunity to really know the person I was sitting with, there would be nobody I could not love.”

“I heard, for the first time— nothing. I danced and did somersaults, lay down in a bed of grass, felt the breeze.And for the first time, I heard my heart, and I knew who I was.”

“I’m one of those introverts with well-honed social skills, and I have even danced on the occasional table, but I have felt sheer panic when my exhaustion precedes my exit. It’s like the Cinderella story with a twist: I want to get out of there and into my duds before midnight—or ten, or eight.”

“One of the teens I worked with told me about how she loves to take tests, because it is quiet and everyone is occupying their own space.”