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Summary: This old chestnut is as applicable today as it ever was.
Review: Although this book has been around for sometime, the principles are still applicable. The author's breezy style seems odd these days but adds warmth and charm. I attended training 5 years ago based largely on this book and Dale's other books, listened to the audio version and read the book. My manager at the time did not recommend it, even though his boss required all of his reports to take this training. I am glad I took it -- for me it was just what I needed. Much will seem like common sense (or will become so for the reader), however I found a couple of insights quite revealing (that people like to be treated as people rather than roles, that everybody likes to feel important and loves the sound of their own name) and very useful. Even the more obviously points act as good reminders. This book is *NOT* about tricking, hypnotizing or otherwise manipulating people unethically -- on the contrary, it is about understanding and getting along with people. I prefer to work with people who have taken this training because they are easier to work with. This book is still in print because it is useful and readable.
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Summary: I agree with all the reviews
Review: I agree with all the reviews. The two best self help books out there that are life changing are How To Win Friends And Influence People and The Little Guide To Happiness.
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Summary: How To Be Superficial and Manipulate People
Review: If you're planning a career in politics, sales or marketing then this book is for you. Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" does offer some good points on how to interact and deal with people in the business world but the techniques, if you will, are very self-serving and superficial.Although I found HTWFAIP interesting reading, I also thought it was a shallow and dated piece of work. Carnegie gives a lot of anecdotes to reinforce his points but I found some of them impractical and absurd. For example, in one case he talks about striking up a conversation with a haggard postal worker and how he "made his day" by complementing him on the thickness of his hair. To me, that was a rather gratuitous remark as it sounded a bit insincere. Carnegie wrote this book back in the 1930s. A time when America was in the midst of the Great Depression and the expression of the day was "brother, can you spare a dime?" The '30s and '40s were a period of great hardship for this country and if wanted to survive, we had to come together and get this country back on its feet. So, naturally, people were more inclined to be helpful and considerate. Back then, business interactions were more personal and to a degree, even ethical. But nowadays, it's every man for himself and the way to interact with people is by impersonal means: faxes, email, teleconferences, etc. Consequently, getting to know people is more challenging than ever. Carnegie's techniques may have worked well for early and mid-twentieth century America but in our impersonal, techno-driven, global business world, a lot of these techniques fall short. Our society has become more cynical and selfish. We live in a society that preaches self-fulfillment at the expense of having meaningful relationships with our families, friends and coworkers. Advertising and marketing feed into our sense of vanity and they are the vehicles that drive our self-centered, hedonistic culture. Consequently, it is more difficult than ever to connect and interact with people on a personal level. These and other larger issues concerning human interaction are not addressed in Carnegie's book and as such, HTWFAIP should not be relied upon as a "primer" for dealing with people. If you really want to learn to how to successfully interact with your fellow man, read your Bible. There's a lot in there and if you study it carefully, you will learn more about interacting and being at peace with your fellow man than you will in reading Carnegie's book. Not only that, but it's stood the test of time far longer than Carnegie's book has.
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Summary: A Classic
Review: Although this book was written many years ago, it has content that can definitely help people today. I enjoyed many of the lessons and examples in the book that can help you understand how to further your career and enhance your personal life through your interactions with others. This book should be read periodically over and over again to remind you the different ways of getting ahead in life (giving sincere appreciation to others, the significance of smiling, remembering birthdays, the importance of a person's name, the implications of criticism, finding out what others want in order to get what you want, etc). I'd also recommend the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad which, like this book, gives you an interesting view and good advice overall on how to be successful in life. Buy How to Win Friends and Influence People if you want to learn and practice things that most others don't, but wish they knew or had. Ever wanted respect, admiration, appreciation, and to feel important in life? Buy this book to learn how! It truly is a classic.
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Summary: A CLASSIC AND A FAVORITE
Review: Two of my favorite books of all time are the classic, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and the newer "The Little Guide To Happiness". My Dad bought me How To Win Friends when I was a teenager and it changed my life. I bought it for my son later in life. And my teen son, introduced me to "The little Guide To Happiness". This is the kind of book you pass from generation to generation. There are only a few books like these around. I suppose "Love" by Leo Buscaglia could also go in this catagory.
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Summary: A "Classic" Despised
Review: I was recommended this book by a fellow professional as a must-read. His boss was a strong believer in the theories presented in this book and found it useful to read and re-read this book. In fact, I am probably the target market for this book as a person who needs to develop his social interaction skills and leadership style. While I find the study of influence and leadership fascinating, I am not interested in this book. I found this book to be extremely annoying. The book is essentially a string of anecdotes that the author uses to illustrate his points - techniques for managing people, getting people to like you, influencing people, and being a leader. There really aren't any facts behind the material. You either take to it or you don't. In this field of study, I personally enjoyed Cialdini's Influence: Science and Practice much more. It offers a better balance between the academic/scientific evidence and anecdotes which illustrates the principle.
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Summary: A great way to apply what you learned in Psychology 101
Review: Dale Carnegie has a style of writing that's reminiscent of Paul Harvey's "Rest of the Story" radio pieces. Short interesting stories of an anonymous individual performing some virtuous act. The stories climax when we realize that the anonymous person is someone famous like Abraham Lincoln, Charles Schwab or Theodore Roosevelt. There's not much need to highlight this text as Carnegie summarizes his main "principle" at the end of each chapter, then again at the end of each unit. I enjoyed this book because Carnegie can take profound ethical ideas and turn them into digestible nuggets of practical advice. For example he quotes William James as saying "the deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated, "as reason why to use his first principle in handling people -- Don't criticize, condemn or complain. Lao-tse said, "The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred mountain streams is that they keep below them-so too should the sage. Dale Carnegie says, "Use Principle 7: Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers. Like many principles of human behavior Carnegie's seem like common sense: Show respect for others opinions: Never say "You're wrong." Others seem so obvious: a person's name is the most important thing to them. And yet others are down right counterintuitive: Ask Questions instead of giving orders to get someone to do what you want. It's Carnegie's ability to weave the overlooked, obvious and counterintuitive into stories we all can relate to that make his books still popular after all these decades.
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Summary: The Journey Begins...
Review: There is nothing as passionate as a passion for living. The invigoration of a handshake, the dynamic of a simple smile, or the courage of a word well spoken. That passion is demonstrated in How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale Carnegie first touched the psyche of America in the 1930's with this classic work. It found its way to the board rooms of our businesses, the classrooms of our institutions of learning and even graced the pulpits of many of our houses of worship. Today it remains. The success of this book alone, however, is not its greatest recommendation. The enhancement of the lives it has touched gives one cause reason to rummage through its pages, read its inspiring message, and reap its rewards. The journey begins on page one.
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Summary: Not worth it
Review: I read this book because I'd always wanted to read it, and because an acquaintance reccommended it. The reason the rating I'm giving it is so low isn't because the ideas are bad, per se, but because the writing style is so annoying to my modern reader's ear that I found the book incredibly hard to read. The ideas themselves, as I said, are fine. I don't find that Carnegie's suggestions are manipulative. In fact, he makes it clear at least two or three times that people who try to use his techniques and suggestions to manipulate people will find that they aren't successful. Alot of what Carnegie is suggesting is basic common sense: be empathetic, be a good listener, don't stuck in a position and instead focus on finding common interests, and give constructive criticism. These are all very useful tips. I appreciated the way Carnegie summed up each chapter with a one sentence bullet. I also liked how each part had a listing of the key point of each chapter from that section. It made skimming through the book much easier. Many of the chapters are repetitive - he talks about criticism in at least three chapters, and he's essentially just expanding on the same point. I would've preferred few chapters providing a more in-depth examination of the key topics, rather than reading alot of chapters that were essentially repetitive. His examples were archaic, which didn't help. Overall, the writing style was frutrating to me as a modern reader. In general, other authors, such as Stephen Covey (Seven Habits For Highly Effective People) and Roger Fisher (Getting to Yes, Difficult Conversations) have addressed the points Carnegie is making in a deeper, more interesting manner.
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Summary: Its truth, Its Approach, and Its limitation
Review: Today, I finish reading the book, How to win Friends and Influence People. My boss, my colleague and my friend as well, who perused it when she was a Ph.D.student, suggested me to read it.That is an old book, first published in 1936. Anyway, almost all truth can be found in one or another old book. Then, what is the truth in the book? That is simple. Everyone has a desire to be important, and all people are more interested in themselves than in others. That may be the weakness in human nature. Based on the facts, the book advocated a new way of life. In order to make friends and to affect others, one must make them feel important by showing honest and sincere respect, appreciation and recognition, and make them interested by focusing on their problems. Does this approach work? I think so. However, it is easy to understand but difficult to practice. After all, those readers of the book belong to Hume being with the same weakness as others. To overcome the weakness to certain degree, one must have personal integrity. One must be insightful so that he can know what others think. One must be patient so that he can deal with others¡¯ issue first. One must be clever so that he can detect others' real but indistinct merit. One point should be made definite. So called "friends" in the book are friends in need, such as bossed, employees, colleagues, teachers, students, classmates, customers, clients, etc. For friends indeed beyond utility, are the principles of the book suitable? I doubt. In fact, I think at least some of them are certainly not. At any rate, honesty, respect and appreciation are crucial in all kinds of relations. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition
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