How to Win Friends and Influence People is a 1936 self-help book written by Dale Carnegie. Over 30 million copies have been sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling books of all time. Dale Carnegie’s self-help bestseller, How to Win Friends and Influence People, was published in 1936. The book outlines several ways to become a likeable person, manage your relationships better, make a great impression to win over others and even make them change their behaviour for you. At the core, Dale Carnegie’s idea is that other people’s behaviour can be changed by modifying your own. The book is among the best-selling of all time, with millions of copies sold worldwide.
Three things about this book surprised me and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.
One – it seemed pretty much timeless. Not much anachronism here, because language still serves the same purposes as ever, and people still want basically the same things they’ve always wanted. I liked the examples taken from Abe Lincoln, etc.
Two – the techniques described in the book aren’t duplicitous. We all try to do what the title says, just like everyone else, whether we’re admitting it to ourselves or not. Readers are repeatedly encouraged to develop genuine interest in others, be honest and ethical, and obey the golden rule.
Three – I enjoyed it (read twice back to back) and it felt easy and natural to apply some of the ideas in my life. Shortly after reading this book, I was a little bit better at communicating and a little bit happier about my interactions with others in general.