Top 70 Anne Bogel Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “My personality traits don’t determine my destiny, they inform it.”

— Anne Bogel

2. “We are constantly evolving products of the influences we take into our brains. What we look at, what we long for-to a large extent, this is exactly who we become. The foundational habits we adopt, the people we hang out with, the thoughts we dwell on-these all greatly impact the kinds of people we are and the kinds of people we become, as well as how we change and how much.”

— Anne Bogel

3. “The MBTI is focused on personal growth. At its core, it assumes that self-understanding leads to growth. The MBTI makes you feel special, and at the same time it makes you feel as though you’re not alone.”

— Anne Bogel

4. “I’ve come to think understanding personality is like holding a good map. That map can’t take you anywhere. It doesn’t change your location; you’re still right where you were before. But the map’s purpose isn’t to move you; it’s to show you the lay of the land. It’s the tool that makes it possible for you to get where you want to go.”

— Anne Bogel

5. “Sometimes I only pretend I don’t know what to do, because I don’t want to do it.”

— Anne Bogel

6. “It’s hard today, but it won’t stay hard forever.”

— Anne Bogel

7. “Understanding your MBTI type can help you understand how to care for yourself and how to better relate to the people around you. It’s similar to being given the owner’s manual for a certain model of car – your preferred model.”

— Anne Bogel

8. “A good book, when we return to it, will always have something new to say. It’s not the same book, and we’re not the same reader.”

— Anne Bogel

9. “Overthinking also carries a significant opportunity cost. Mental energy is not a limitless resource. We have only so much to spend each day, and how we choose to spend it matters.”

— Anne Bogel

10. “You accept that it’s time to cull your personal library. You lovingly handle each book, determining if it brings you joy. It does. They all do. You are full of bookish joy, but still woefully short on shelf space.”

— Anne Bogel

11. “Choosing my next book sometimes feels like a complicated dance. With so many books to read, how can I possibly decide what to read? What to read now? What to read next?”

— Anne Bogel

12. “I don’t carefully plan – and yet it’s uncanny how often I seem to be reading just the right book at just the right time. Sometimes I feel compelled to read a book – or someone feels compelled to recommend it – for reasons I can’t discern, and only later do I find it’s essential to me, right then. Not before I started reading it, but after. The book may seem random when I choose it, but halfway through I realize, I need this right now.”

— Anne Bogel

13. “Why this book, or that one? I never know at the time. Sometimes, of course, I seek out a book I need. But sometimes it’s more apt to say the book seeks me. I’ve learned books move in mysterious ways, and I’d do well to pay attention.”

— Anne Bogel

14. “We need to be sure we express our love in a way our loved ones can actually receive.”

— Anne Bogel

15. “A book twin is a joy, and I highly recommend finding one, if you can.”

— Anne Bogel

16. “To get the most accurate MBTI type for yourself, you need to identify the cognitive functions you rely on and the specific order you use them in. It’s a surprise to many when they find out that this is in fact the whole point of the assessment. The end game isn’t simply to label your preferences but to discover the mental processes that underpin your personality.”

— Anne Bogel

17. “With apologies to Kathleen Kelly, what I’ve come to learn is this: if my real life reminds me of something I read in a book, I’m reading well – and I’m probably living well, too.”

— Anne Bogel

18. “Every reader goes through this rite of passage: the transition from having books chosen for us to choosing books for ourselves. When given the choice, some choose not to read. But you, dear reader, moved from being told what to read to choosing for yourself. From reading on assignment, perhaps to please someone else, to reading at your own leisure to please only yourself. When faced with the task of establishing your own reading life, you did it, or maybe you’re still in the middle of doing it.”

— Anne Bogel

19. “We don’t change our MBTI type, but we develop and strengthen those processes that characterize our type that are already present. We become deeper, more complete versions of ourselves.”

— Anne Bogel

20. “Shakespeare said the eyes are the windows to the soul, but we readers know one’s bookshelves reveal just as much.”

— Anne Bogel

21. “You’re sad because whatever you read next can’t possibly be as good as the book you just finished. You despair because nothing you read can possibly be as good, ever again.”

— Anne Bogel

22. “Reading is often viewed as a solitary act; that’s one of the reasons I love it, and it’s certainly my favorite escape and introvert coping strategy of choice.”

— Anne Bogel

23. “If you care, you’ll be there. If you don’t, you won’t.”

— Anne Bogel

24. “Some readers meticulously record the dates they read each title and where they were when they read it.”

— Anne Bogel

25. “A great book. That’s all you want. But reading is personal. We can’t know what a book will mean to us until we read it. And so we take a leap and choose.”

— Anne Bogel

26. “The foundational habits we adopt, the people we hang out with, the thoughts we dwell on – these all greatly impact the kinds of people we are and the kinds of people we become, as well as how we change and how much.”

— Anne Bogel

27. “Understanding our personalities makes it significantly easier to change the things within our grasp. This is whole point of studying various frameworks! Some people resist personality frameworks because they say such frameworks put them in a box. I’ve found that understanding my personality helps me step out of the box I’m trapped in. When I understand myself, I can get out of my own way.”

— Anne Bogel

28. “Idealists believe everyone is unique and special in their own way. It’s true that Idealists probably see themselves as special snowflakes, but the truth is they see you as one too.”

— Anne Bogel

29. “Your favorite book becomes a movie, and you’re terrified to see it because you’re fond of the way you picture the characters and hear their voices in your head.”

— Anne Bogel

30. “Understanding our personalities doesn’t eliminate the tension that results when people with different needs, motivations, and preferences come together or, especially, live together. But understanding things beneath the surface–why people act the way they act and prefer the things they prefer–helps us at least make sense of what’s going on. These people are not out to get us or trying to ruffle our feathers; they’re just different–a different kind of normal.”

— Anne Bogel

31. “When we talk about someone’s personality, we’re referring to those characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make that person unique.”

— Anne Bogel

32. “I’m constantly on the lookout for like-minded readers, those kindred spirits whose circles overlap my own on the Venn diagram of reading tastes.”

— Anne Bogel

33. “The very process of wrestling through the inventory’s questions forces people into a useful posture of self-awareness and self-examination. It’s helpful on a personal level too. So many young people may feel they’re a mess, especially if they’re one of the rarer types. When a person identifies and learns about their type, they discover it’s okay to be themselves.”

— Anne Bogel

34. “But the truths of many readers’ reading lives make them uncomfortable; their gap isn’t a source of amusement, but frustration. They’re certain their taste is questionable, their opinions are wrong, their reading habits are poor, and it’s only a matter of time before the Book Police track them down.”

— Anne Bogel

35. “You realize midsentence that you have no idea how to say a certain word out loud, because until now you’ve only said to yourself, in your head, while reading.”

— Anne Bogel

36. “Intelligence and curiosity don’t inevitably cause analysis paralysis, thank goodness. But if we’re unaware of the connection, these positive qualities are more likely to lead us astray.”

— Anne Bogel

37. “Woo. This stands for “winning others over.” They enjoy meeting new people and securing their approval, admiration, or friendship.”

— Anne Bogel

38. “The Things We Wish Were True, Marybeth Whalen.”

— Anne Bogel

39. “When we share our favorite titles, we can’t help but share ourselves as well. Shakespeare said the eyes are the windows to the soul, but we readers know one’s bookshelves reveal just as much.”

— Anne Bogel

40. “As a devoted reader, I lovingly give countless hours to finding the right books for me. I don’t think those hours are wasted; part of the fun of reading is planning the reading. But I’ve learned that sometimes, despite my best efforts, a book unexpectedly finds me and not the other way around. And when it does, it’s okay to reshuffle my To Be Read list and go with it.”

— Anne Bogel

41. “Just as I’m all the ages I have been, I’m all the readers I have been.”

— Anne Bogel

42. “Readers want to discover what they want to read, and they want to discover it for themselves.”

— Anne Bogel

43. “You accidentally buy two of the same book at the book sale.”

— Anne Bogel

44. “We think that we have to learn how to give, but we forget about accepting things, which can be so much harder than giving.”

— Anne Bogel

45. “I feel certain of this: I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I weren’t a reader.”

— Anne Bogel

46. “The diagnosis is its own sort of cure.”

— Anne Bogel

47. “William Morris famously wrote, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

— Anne Bogel

48. “Growth is a multistep process, but it is an actual process. Spiritual formation isn’t quite as slippery as some make it out to be. The first step is to crack ourselves open to see what we’re hiding, either deliberately or inadvertently, and to drag what is in the dark into the light. This is the process of self-discovery and self-awareness.”

— Anne Bogel

49. “Introverts are often thought to be shy, and they may battle the perception that they dislike people or company or that they’re grouchy or social misfits. Extroverts, however, battle the perception that they’re flighty or shallow or relentlessly happy. People tend to assume extroverts are bad listeners, hate being alone, and are irrationally “needy” for the company of others.”

— Anne Bogel

50. “You want to tell the world about a book you loved, but you fear your friends won’t be able to see past the terrible cover. You want to tell the world about a book you loved, but the title is stupid. You realize midsentence that you have no idea how to say a certain word out loud, because until now you’ve only said it to yourself, in your head, while reading.”

— Anne Bogel