Although the introverted consciousness is naturally aware of external conditions, it selects the subjective determinants as the decisive ones.
- C.G. Jung, General Description of the Types. CW 6: Psychological Types, par. 621.
The inner life plays an altogether decisive role in the introvert's conscious psychology. Why, for example, why does the introverted woman read so attentively? Because above everything else she loves to understand and grasp ideas. Why is she restful and soothing? Because she usually keeps her feelings to herself, expressing them in her thoughts instead of unloading them on others. Her unconventional morality is backed by deep reflection and convincing inner feelings. The charm of her quiet and intelligent character depends not merely on a peaceful attitude, but on the fact that one can talk with her reasonably and coherently, and that she is able to appreciate the value of her partner's argument. She does not interrupt him with impulsive exclamations, but accompanies his meaning with her thoughts and feelings, which none the less remain steadfast, never yielding to the opposing argument.
This compact and well-developed ordering of the conscious psychic contents is a stout defense against a chaotic and passionate emotional life of which the introvert is very often aware, at least in its personal aspect: she fears it because she knows it too well.
She meditates about herself, and is therefore outwardly calm and can acknowledge and accept others without overwhelming them with praise or blame. But because her emotional life would devastate these good qualities, she rejects as far as possible her instincts and affects, though without mastering them. In contrast, therefore, to her logical and well-knit consciousness, her affective life is elemental, confused, and ungovernable. It lacks the true human note, it is out of proportion, irrational, a 'phenomenon of nature' that breaks through the human order. It lacks any kind of palpable afterthought or purpose, so at times it is purely destructive, a raging torrent that neither intends destruction nor avoids it, ruthless and necessary, obedient only to its own laws, a process that is its own fulfillment.
Her good qualities depend on her thinking, which by its tolerant or benevolent outlook has succeeded in influencing or restraining one part of her instinctive life, though without being able to embrace and transform the whole. The introverted woman is far less conscious of the full range of her affectivity than she is of her rational thoughts and feelings.
- C.G. Jung, The Type Problem in Human Character: The Introverted Woman ("The More Impassioned Woman"). Ibid., pars. 257-258.
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