“I'm going to give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is: work alone. Not on a committee. Not on a team” – Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple. He is living proof that quiet people are often the most powerful. In today’s society, many extroverts have the tendency to speak before thinking about what they’re saying. When you come across an absolute introvert, they have a propensity to be more limited as to when they speak, but when they do, their words have some type of professional impact, whether it’s uplifting or justified reproof.
Quiet people hold the kind of solitude that everyone looks up to. Typically, no one ever tries to impose on the aura quiet people have. From a quiet person’s point of view, louder personalities intrude on their remoteness and they shy away from those kinds of situations to be able to focus on what is worth paying attention to. In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, the most obvious example of this is Boo (Arthur) Radley. Boo makes this statement true because he has not been out of his house in years, so technically no has ever spoken to him, yet rumors people have made about him have instilled fear in some of the people in Maycomb.
When you hear someone say ‘that quiet kid in class’, you automatically thought of someone, didn’t you? Exactly. Now try to imagine how much more academically advanced they probably are compared to ‘that loud popular guy’ who shares his neglected grades with everyone. Even though I’m sure there are some really smart loud people out there, who would you expect to win in a factual debate? The loud popular guy who doesn’t really know what he is talking about, or the quiet introvert who knows exactly what he is talking about and has facts and evidence to back him up, which in turn allows him to utterly obliterate his opponent? Easy. The introvert. When these kinds of situations happen, the loud person is laughed at, meanwhile, his opponent, the quiet person, has just earned full respect from the whole class. In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, when Boo finally showed his face in the book, he is portrayed as a very quiet, secluded young man. The ‘power’ he has is shown when Scout realizes that Boo put the blanket around her, and even though she is terrified, later on, she realizes Boo is actually a good guy, just quiet.
In today’s society, quiet people’s opinions tend to be regarded with no importance until someone actually listens to what they have to say, then they realize how helpful that person really is. In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, Atticus Finch is another great example of quiet people being held in higher reverence. Most of the time people think that quiet people don’t have strong or rational ideas when they haven’t done their own research. In the novel, Scout is shown thinking her father isn’t ‘as cool’ as other kids’ fathers, until she realizes he is much better than any other father in Maycomb, due to his morals and analytical way of life.
In conclusion, quiet people are often the most powerful people in society. So, with that being said, think again next time you call the quiet kid weird because, in theory, their GPA is probably higher than your standards. What really matters is invisible to the eyes, so watch yourself or else that quiet kid will destroy you in debate class.