How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is an old classic, a timeless bestseller. Dale Carnegie’s advice has already helped countless people to become better people and better leaders. I loved reading this book and I should read it again.
Dale Harbison Carnegie (November 24, 1888 – November 1, 1955) was an American writer and lecturer. He developed famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. One of the core ideas in his books is that it is possible to change other people’s behavior by changing one’s behavior toward them first.
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My Favorite Top 20 Quotes from How To Win Friends and Influence People
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
― Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
“Don’t be afraid of enemies who attack you. Be afraid of the friends who flatter you.”
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
“Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.”
“Everybody in the world is seeking happiness—and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn’t depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.”
“Talk to someone about themselves and they’ll listen for hours.”
“Actions speak louder than words, and a smile says, ‘I like you. You make me happy. I am glad to see you.”
“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.”
“Personally I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went fishing, I didn’t think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted. I didn’t bait the hook with strawberries and cream. Rather, I dangled a worm or grasshopper in front of the fish and said: “Wouldn’t you like to have that?”
Why not use the same common sense when fishing for people?”
“A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still”
“The difference between appreciation and flattery? That is simple. One is sincere and the other insincere. One comes from the heart out; the other from the teeth out. One is unselfish; the other selfish. One is universally admired; the other universally condemned.”
“You can’t win an argument. You can’t because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it.”
“To be interesting, be interested.”
“Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
“I have come to the conclusion that there is only one way under high heaven to get the best of an argument— and that is to avoid it. Avoid it as you would avoid rattlesnakes and earthquakes.”
“If You Want to Gather Honey, Don’t Kick Over the Beehive”
“All men have fears, but the brave put down their fears and go forward, sometimes to death, but always to victory.”
“Why talk about what we want? That is childish. Absurd. Of course, you are interested in what you want. You are eternally interested in it. But no one else is. The rest of us are just like you: we are interested in what we want.”
“Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurt his sense of importance and arouse resentment.”
“Winning friends begins with friendliness.”
