Susan Horowitz Cain[9] (born 1968) is an American writer and lecturer, and autho

r of the 2012 non-fiction book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Ca
n't Stop Talking, which argues that modern Western culture misunderstands and un
dervalues the traits and capabilities of introverted people. In 2015, Cain co-fo
unded Quiet Revolution, a mission-based company with initiatives in the areas of
children (parenting and education), lifestyle, and the workplace.
Contents [hide]
1
Early careers
2
Background and motivation for Quiet
3
Quiet: The Power of Introverts
4
The Quiet Revolution
5
Selected work
6
References
7
External links
Early careers[edit]
Cain graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Engli
sh in 1989[5] and earned her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1993
.[8] She worked first as an attorney, and then as a negotiations consultant[2] a
s owner and principal of The Negotiation Company.[10] Cain has been a fellow and
a faculty/staff member of the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, an edu
cational non-profit organization.[10]
Cain left her careers in corporate law and consulting for a quieter life of writ
ing at home with her family.[11] She later wrote that she looks back on her year
s as a Wall Street lawyer "as time spent in a foreign country."[12]
Background and motivation for Quiet[edit]
When asked what she would be doing if she were not a writer, Cain explained that
she would be a research psychologist, saying she is insatiably curious about hu
man nature.[13] Cain's interest in writing about introversion reportedly stemmed
from her own difficulties with public speaking, which made Harvard Law School "
a trial."[11]
While still an attorney, Cain noticed that others at her firm were putting perso
nality traits like hers to good use in the profession, and that gender per se di
d not explain those traits.[14] She eventually realized that the concepts of int
roversion and extroversion provided the "language for talking about questions of
identity" that had been lacking.[14]
Cain explained that in writing Quiet, she was fueled by the passion and indignat
ion that she imagined fueled the 1963 feminist book, The Feminine Mystique.[13]
Cain likened Introverts today to women at that time second-class citizens with gigan
tic amounts of untapped talent.[13] Saying that most introverts aren't aware of
how they are constantly spending their time in ways that they would prefer not t
o be and have been doing so all their lives, Cain explained that she was trying
to give people entitlement in their own minds to be who they are.[15]
Cain added that for her, Quiet was not just a book but a mission.[13] Specifical
ly, she said she was interested in working with parents and teachers of introver
ted kids and to re-shape workplace culture and design, and in particular replace
what she terms "The New Groupthink" with an environment more conducive to deep
thought and solo reflection.[13]