Rick Smolan Quotes

I was a nervous kid, not great socially.

I was one of those weird children that just couldn't talk to people, so I kind of had to make myself be not like that because I knew it was going to hinder me.

I was a very shy and introverted person, and it was hard for me to talk to people and make relationships.

I'm not very cool. I have a really hard time meeting people and stuff.

I'm hopeless at small talk and have a problem making eye contact.

When I was a kid, I was super shy.

I've gotten better at not making people feel uncomfortable with my shyness.

I've never been all that comfortable in real life.

I was very shy - I didn't speak to anyone outside of my family until the fourth grade.

I'm a small-town kid from Winnsboro, La., who grew up not really being comfortable talking to people.

The minute I stop singing, I'm back to being shy. I'm soft-spoken because I never really talked to people. I didn't learn to do it.

I am afraid I am totally hermetic to social games in general.

I'm very shy in real life; I can't really hit on girls.

Mere bashfulness without merit is awkwardness.

I've always had to force myself to make friends and speak to people. My parents were quiet, and it took me a while to get used to the fact that people talk about their feelings, their problems.

I don't get as much female attention as you'd think, because I never go out.

I have always been a bit of an introvert. In fact, my dad used to force me to meet people so that my interpersonal skills improve. As an individual, I was happiest when left alone.

When I came to New York, I was really awkward. I went to military academy for high school, so I didn't have the socialization that most kids do. When I got here, I was five years behind everybody. Talking to women was weird for me.

At school I was very shy. I wasn't funny really.

When I was younger, I used to be super, super shy. I still find myself being scared of things.

There's something about being rejected - when I go out without my friends, I'm reminded of how I'm actually quite antisocial. I don't look like a guy who feels like that, but it's very hard for me to start up a conversation. At a party, I'm lost.

I don't know how to talk to people I don't know.

I'm shy in my personal life.

I was a chronically shy child. That kernel of my younger self is still there, but I've developed mechanisms to deal with it.

A shy kid might look longingly at other kids playing in the schoolyard, afraid and unsure about how to approach them, but an introvert is perfectly content on her own.