Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #245 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-05
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

The Guardian
'the granddaddy of all management books'

Synopsis
Millions of people around the world have - and continue to - improve their lives based on the teachings of Dale Carnegie. In "How to Win Friends and Influence People", Carnegie offers practical advice and techniques, in his exuberant and conversational style, for how to get out of a mental rut and make life more rewarding. His advice has stood the test of time and will teach you how to: make friends quickly and easily; increase your popularity; win people to your way of thinking; enable you to win new clients and customers; become a better speaker and a more entertaining conversationalist; and, arouse enthusiasm among your colleagues. This book will turn around your relationships and improve your dealings with all the people in your life.

From the Publisher
The most famous confidence-boosting book ever published; with sales of over 16 million copies worldwide

Customer Reviews

So obvious :-)
After having read this book my only thought was "of course" ... Why didn't I think of this before.

The book is actually common sense - but we might all need a reminder.

Dated, but still of value if you go with the flow
There are two ways you can look at Dale Carnegie's seminal personal development work, written in 1936 but based on Carnegie's lecture notes from 1912 onwards, last revised by him in the 1950s - he died in 1955 - and thereafter by his wife and daughter:

1. It is an out-of-date book, quoting examples of once influential people all long since dead, like Abe Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, John Rockefeller, Charles Schwab and others of whom even the best read will probably never have heard, and which espouses a series of unsubtle, insincere and manipulative techniques to get people to do what you want. Who, after all, wishes to "win" friends when you might, by simply being a nice person, "make" them?

2. It is an easy to read, simple and sincere book. Written by a farmer's boy from Missouri, who became a successful salesman, the first personal development guru and thence a self-made multi-millionaire, it is still a useful guide to being effective if you are prepared to "go with the flow" of somewhat dated examples and somewhat homespun wisdom.

This book is dated but to me that makes in interesting as a period piece as much as a commentary on the human condition - which surely has not changed that much in a mere 50 years. Dale Carnegie collected the profound and the practical, and his philosophy is actually to be as passive in influencing as you can be. He extols the virtue, for example, of influencing others only be complimenting them on what they have done well (without ever criticising them for what they may have done badly). If you have to be influenced - or even manipulated - by anyone, then you would mind less if was done the Carnegie way, which is relentlesly polite.

Perhaps there are better personal development book for this type. "The seven habits" by Steven Covey is certainly less dated, and is perhaps based on a more developed meta-philosophy, but (and for all Mr Covey suggests) it owes more than a little to Dale Carnegie, and they both share a common sage in Benjamin Franklin.

Sometimes these days you do have to criticise people, however, to correct them straight away and with clarity. In his day, for example, you may have been able to "let someone go" while saying only nice things about them - you certainly can't do that in the UK today. In those cases, Carnegie is of less help perhaps than some more modern writers and thinkers.

Dale Carnegie is still worth reading. If you don't know who the people he quotes or mentions are, check them out on Wikipedia. This may not be the last word on being a better (or mre effective) person, but there is little in it that is not helpful. 236 pages worth reading.

Radiating Happiness and Passing on Honest Appreciation
What an incredible life inspiring book, actually a timeless masterpiece of writing that has encouraged countless numbers of people into living a life that is meaningful and enriching. In the chapter titled "How to Make People Like You Instantly", Dale writes of how important it is to always make the other person feel important. Dale describes a similar situation he had as "a feeling that flows and sings in your memory long after the incident is past". I truly understood what he meant.

Another masterpiece on the subject of relating is called "How To Create A Magical Relationship" written by Ariel & Shya Kane. I can honestly say that I have found no other book, beside the Kanes', that has such a positive effect on how I relate and live my life. Both the Kanes and Dale Carnegie have brought human relating to an art form that has been mastered by many many people around the world. Isn't it time you turn a page of these powerful books?