What is it about quotes? I’ve long loved them, collected them, made them my mantras and my touchstones. Perhaps because they succinctly and eloquently capture abstract feelings that many of us struggle to put into words. They provoke and challenge. They inspire reflection. Many times, they offer a slice of insight that can be shocking in its truth.
My energy has been high, low, backwards and forwards over the past few weeks. I’ve felt generally out of sorts. When these spells happen, I’m drawn to reading my favorite quotes (which is much less expensive than retail therapy!). This time, part of the process of regaining my sorts 🙂 is to share some of my favorites with you. A favorite quotes post could go on and on, so I’ve focused on quotes that align with and speak to the heart and mind of the introvert. I hope you smile at familiar favorites, and maybe pick up a few new ones.
This above all:
To thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
~Hamlet, Shakespeare
To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves – there lies the great, singular power of self-respect. ~Joan Didion
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are. ~ Carl Jung
Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. ~ Golda Meir
You don’t need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it today…watch your heart start beating. ~ Barbara Sher
Dwell as near as possible to the channel in which your life flows. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Everybody should have his personal sounds to listen for – sounds that will make him exhilarated and alive or quite and calm…. One of the greatest sounds of them all – and to me it is a sound – is utter, complete silence. ~ Andre Kostelanetz
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. ~ Carl Jung
The best thinking has been done in solitude. ~ Thomas Alva Edison
Do not lose your inward peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. ~ Saint Francis De Sales
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Be who you want to be…not what other people want to see. ~ Unknown
Alone, even doing nothing, you do not waste your time. You do, almost always, in company. No encounter with yourself can be altogether sterile: Something necessarily emerges, even if only the hope of some day meeting yourself again. ~ Emil Cioran
I want you to be everything that’s you, deep at the center of your being. ~ Confucius
Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. ~ Marianne Williamson
Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens. ~ Jimi Hendrix
I am what I am, so take me as I am! ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Accept everything about yourself–I mean everything, You are you and that is the beginning and the end–no apologies, no regrets. ~ Clark Moustakas
True healing comes from owning and accepting all of life’s energies within ourselves….When they are allowed to be expressed, they take their places as important facets of our nature. There is no split between ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ ~Shakti Gawain
The more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude. ~ Aldous Huxley
There is no traffic jam on the extra mile. ~Anonymous
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. ~ Carl Jung
The good and the wise lead quiet lives. ~ Euripides
What are YOUR favorite quotes (introverty or otherwise)?? Please share in the comments!
So Popeye was quoting Goethe. The things I learn from your blog! 🙂
My favourite is the "extended version" of the Marianne Williamson quote you mentioned. Which begins:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
Which…doesn't sound too introverty, does it?
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Patty, I thought the same thing, LOL! So funny. I agree, the Marianne Williamson quote in its entirety is one of my absolute favorites, a "desert island" verse if I ever read one. And I think it's perfect affirmation for the introvert – after all, just like introvert doesn't equal shy, it doesn't equal small, either. 😉 My take-away is to live life big, introvert style!
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I am another quote lover, and I thoroughly enjoyed your list! I have kept lists of quote for years. Another favorite of mine that I think of as being related to introverts is the following:
"To be a soulful person means to go against all the pervasive, prove-yourself values of our culture and instead treasure what is unique and internal and valuable in yourself and your own personal evolution.” ~ Jean Shinoda Bolen
Hi A Musing Dryad 🙂 … what a wonderful quote! I love love love it!!
And I enjoyed perusing your blog. This quote that you shared on Feb 6 jumped out at me: “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” ~Carl Rogers
That particular quote reminds me of something I just posted on my Facebook Page a few days ago: Gestalt psychotherapy proposes the “Paradoxical Theory of Change, ” which says “change occurs when one becomes what s/he is, not when s/he tries to become what s/he is not.”
Thank you for sharing the Bolen quote – I'm going to add it to my rotating "Words of Wisdom" quote widget.
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Thanks, Beth! I'm glad you enjoyed reading a bit of my journey.
I really like your Gestalt psychotherapy quote. It does go well with the Carl Rogers quote and gives me more to think about. Thanks!
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My favorite is Wayne Dyer's, "You're at exactly the right place, at exactly the right moment."
Thanks for sharing quotes! I love collecting them too and will add these you've shared to my notebook. Its hard to pick favorites but here are some I think might be "introverty" 🙂
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned in life: it goes on". Robert Frost
"You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you feel, and smarter than you think" Christopher Robin
"If you believe you can or believe you can't you are right" Henry Ford
My favorites:
"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." ~Francis Bacon
"A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
"Once outside the magic circle the writers became their lonely selves, pondering on poems, observing their fellow men ruthlessly, putting people they knew into novels; no wonder they were without friends." ~Barbara Pym
I too share your love of quotes Beth! In fact I just launched a blog about 6 weeks ago that is entirely based around quotes. Each week I post a quote and write a little about what that quote means to me in hopes of providing a little inspiration for others. You can check it out at http://authentic-excellence.com/blog2/.
As for picking favorite quote that can be quite challenging! At this moment in my life, I would have to say my favorite quote is:
“And the day came, when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” —Anais Nin
Thanks for a great post!
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New to your site. Here are a couple which suggest that listening is where it’s at!
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I never think, my thoughts think for me (Lamartine)
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‘Our clear concepts are like islands which rise above the ocean of obscure ones’ (Leibniz)
Both are from a recently written book ( not yet published but soon to be- see philipparees.WordPress,.com) I ask for co-incidences instead!
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I really like your article, Thanks for a nice post!