Moral Letters for Modern Times
On Introverts (Stoic Wisdom 011)
Introversion is not something that is remedied by exposure. If anything, repeated forays out of comfortable seclusion only strengthen the desire to return to safety
I talked recently with your friend Didacus after a lecture. He is capable and gives the impression immediately that he is a sincere student.
When I challenged him, he was at first hesitant to respond. I could see him drawing away before he pulled himself back, and I fault him not. It is a natural instinct, particularly among the inexperienced, to avoid a confrontation and retreat to safety.
An introvert is never so safe as inside their own head.
And I do not doubt that though he will be cured of the affliction of youth, he will continue to shy away even as his experience grows.
Introversion is not something that is remedied by exposure. If anything, repeated forays out of comfortable seclusion only strengthen the desire to return to safety.
Examples of accomplished recluses come easily to mind: Howard Hughes was fantastically wealthy and freakishly eccentric, all but guaranteeing he would be of constant interest.
