The character arc of Susan Cain

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 20 March 1968 in Lawrence, New York. Between then and now sit a Princeton degree in 1989, a Harvard law degree in 1993, seven years at a corporate firm, a negotiation practice, Quiet in 2012, a TED talk in February of the same year, the Quiet Revolution announced in 2014, Quiet Power in 2016 and Bittersweet in 2022. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Susan Cain?

She argued for quiet on the loudest stage.

She took a degree in English at Princeton in 1989 and a law degree at Harvard in 1993, and spent seven years as a corporate lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton in New York. She then worked as a negotiations consultant and owned her own negotiation company, and was a fellow and faculty member at the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking was published in 2012. Its argument is straightforward and had not been made properly before: somewhere between a third and a half of people draw their energy from solitude rather than company, most modern workplaces and schools are built for the other half, and a great deal of talent is wasted as a result.

In February 2012 she gave a TED talk called The Power of Introverts, which became one of the most watched talks the organisation has ever published. It is the detail that makes the line worth drawing: the argument for quiet, made from the most exposed stage available, by somebody to whom that stage does not come naturally. She announced the Quiet Revolution in March 2014, published Quiet Power for younger readers in 2016, a journal in 2020, and Bittersweet in 2022, on sorrow and longing and what they are for. She gave a third TED talk in July 2019.

The moments

Susan Cain's timeline.

The 1980s

Jun 1989

English at Princeton

Milestone, and it changed her direction. English first, which is where the writing came from.

The 1990s

Jun 1993

Harvard Law

Milestone, and it changed everything. A law degree from Harvard, and the career that was supposed to follow it.

Sep 1994

Seven years in corporate law

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Seven years at a Wall Street firm, which is a long time to spend in a room built for other people.

The 2000s

1 Sep 2000

Stay at the firm, or leave

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: leave the firm, taken, or stay and make partner. Quiet and the talk that went with it came from the other path, and changed how a third of the world describes itself.

~2002

The negotiation years

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Out of the firm and teaching the one skill the firm had actually taught her.

The 2010s

24 Jan 2012

Quiet

Milestone, and it changed everything. The argument nobody had made properly: schools and offices are built for half the population.

28 Feb 2012

The TED talk

Milestone, and it changed everything. The case for quiet, made from the most exposed stage available.

Mar 2014

The Quiet Revolution

Milestone, and it changed her direction. The book turned into an organisation, and the argument into a programme.

3 May 2016

Quiet Power

Milestone. The same case, written for the people it matters to earliest.

Jul 2019

Sad songs and rain

Milestone. A third talk, and a first sign of where the next book was going.

The 2020s

5 Apr 2022

Bittersweet

Milestone, and it changed everything. A second argument about a second thing the modern world will not sit still for.

The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is a word used properly: a great many people stopped thinking of themselves as a failed extrovert and started using what they actually have.

What she wrote

Books by Susan Cain

2012
Quiet
The power of introverts in a world that cannot stop talking. The argument that schools and offices are built for half the population.
2016
Quiet Power
The same case written for younger readers, who meet the problem first.
2022
Bittersweet
How sorrow and longing make us whole. A second argument about something the modern world will not sit still for.

Your turn

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Susan Cain: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Susan Cain's character arc?

A Princeton and Harvard educated lawyer who spent seven years in corporate practice, left it for negotiation consulting, and then wrote the book and gave the talk that changed how a third of the world describes itself.

What is Quiet by Susan Cain?

Her book of 2012, subtitled the power of introverts in a world that cannot stop talking. Its argument is that schools and offices are built for people who draw energy from company, and that a great deal of talent is wasted as a result.

What is Susan Cain's TED talk?

The Power of Introverts, given in February 2012, which became one of the most watched talks TED has published. The case for quiet, argued from the most exposed stage available, is the shape of her whole line.

Was Susan Cain a lawyer?

Yes. She took her law degree at Harvard in 1993 and practised corporate law at Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton for seven years before leaving to work as a negotiations consultant and then as a writer.

What is Bittersweet by Susan Cain?

Her book of 2022, subtitled how sorrow and longing make us whole. It follows the same method as Quiet, taking something the modern world treats as a defect and arguing that it is a capacity.

Where did Susan Cain study?

She took a degree in English at Princeton University in 1989 and a law degree at Harvard Law School in 1993. The English degree is the one that shows most clearly in the books she went on to write.

What is Susan Cain's Quiet Revolution?

The organisation she announced in a TED talk in March 2014, turning the argument of her book into a working programme for schools and workplaces rather than leaving it on the page.

Where does this timeline of Susan Cain's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Susan Cain isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Susan Cain, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
TED, The Power of Introverts, February 2012.
Publisher records for Quiet, Quiet Power and Bittersweet.