Dale Carnegie's Lifetime Plan for Success: How to Win Friends & Influence People - How to Stop Worrying & Start Living

by Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie’s books have sold 20 million copies. This volume gathers two of the unrivaled guru of motivational writing’s best guides in one.

Dale Carnegie’s motivational and practical teachings are as sound today as when they were first written. Bestsellers for more than 60 years, How to Win Friends & Influence People and How to Stop Worrying & Start Living, have taught millions how to achieve the pinnacle of personal and professional success. They’re now together in one must-have volume. How to Win Friends reveals fundamental techniques for handling people, six ways to make others like you, tricks for becoming a better speaker, and how to be a leader. In How to Stop Worrying, Carnegie offers proven formulas for eliminating 50 percent of your business concerns immediately, suggestions for lessening financial fears, ideas for avoiding emotional upset, and much more. It’s the key to exchanging self-consciousness for self-confidence.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Business, Psychology, Personal Development, Classics, Personal Growth

538 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

Dale Carnegie was an American writer and teacher of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Born into poverty on a farm in Missouri, he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936), a bestseller that remains popular today. He also wrote How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948), Lincoln the Unknown (1932), and several other books.
One of the core ideas in his books is that it is possible to change other people's behavior by changing one's behavior towards them.

Reviews

[Lídia · Rating 3 out of 5]

· Summary

FUNDAMENTAL TECHNIQUES IN HANDLING PEOPLE
1. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain
- Criticism always return home, and the person who we are going to correct or condemn will probably justify itself and condemn us in return
- Wrongdoers blame anybody but themselves
2 Give honest and sincere appreciation.
- The only way I can get you to do anything is by giving you what you want
-List of most desired things:
Health and the preservation of life
Food
Sleep
Money
Life in hereafter
Sexual gratification
Well-being of your children
Feeling of importance
3. Arouse in the other person an eager need or want.
- When fishing bait the hook with worms not chocolate, even we rather the second one the fish prefer the first

WAYS TO MAKE PEOPLE LIKE YOU
1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
- You 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
2. Smile.
- You must have a good time meeting people if you expect them to have a good time meeting you
- Nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give!
3. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
- Name as many people by first name as you can, they will feel important to you and will be more pleased by you
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
- Listen intently
5. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
- Meet the subject your visitor most likes before meeting with him
6. Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely.
- Make a person go home walking on air
- Ask yourself, what is there about him I can honestly admire

HOW TO MAKE PEOPLE LIKE YOU INSTANTLY
1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
- Keep the disagreement from becoming an argument
2. Show respect for other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”
- If you are going to prove anything don’t let anybody know it, do it subtly, so adroitly, that no one will feel that you are doing it.
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
- A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall
5. Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately.
- begin by emphasizing the things on which you agree keep your oponent from saying ‘NO’
6. Let the other person do a a great deal of the talking.
- Ask them questions, let them tell you a few things
- Don’t interrupt even if disagree
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
- We prefer to chose than to be commanded
- Make suggestions and let the other person think out the conclusion
- We have much more faith in ideas that we discover for ourselves
8. Try honestly to see things from the other persons point of view.
- Be wise, tolerant and exceptional, and try to understand
- Try honestly to put yourself in his shoes
9. By synthetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
- Apologize and sympathize with the other point of view and they will do so with you
- I don’t blame you one iota for feelings as you do. If I where you I would undoubtedly feel just as you do.
10. Appeal to the other nobler motives.
- Listen to the story they have to tell and then adjust yours to match theirs
11. Dramatize your ideas.
- Exaggerate and sometimes add or keep the gossip around
12. Throw down a challenge.
- The way to get things done is to stimulate competition

BE A LEADER: HOW TO CHANGE PEOPE WITHOUT GIVING OFFENSE OR AROUING RESENTMENT
1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
- Is always easier to listen to unpleasant things after we have heard some praise of our good points.
2. Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
- The way you say it will make the difference
- In changing people without giving offers or arousing resentment
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
- It isn’t nearly so difficult to listen to a recital of your faults the person critizising begins by humbly admitting that he is far from impeccable.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
- Make orders palatable
- Stimulate their creativity
5. Let the other person save face.
- “Hurting a man in his dignity is a crime”
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your appreciation and lavish in your praise.”
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
- Give a dog a good name
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
- Be liberal with your encouragement
- Let the other person know that you have fait in his ability to do it
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.
- Making people glad to do what you want
+ Be sincere
+ Know exactly what it is you want the other person to do
+ Be empathetic
+ Consider the benefits to the others person’s wants
+ When you make a request put it in a form that will convey to the other person idea that he personally will benefit.
(Carnegie, 1937)

· Personal opinion about content.
He puts too many examples of American Presidents and Vice-presidents like Lincoln, Roosevelt or Rockefeller, which for my taste is too repetitive and now I don’t want to know anything from Lincoln for at least the next three years.
Some stories are very long and don’t go straight to the point, and I want to skip them but I have to keep on an eye not to miss the important information.

· Knowledge gained.
My favorite principle is SMILE, and now I keep it more present in my head
To not interrupt when you disagree, which I sometimes tend to do.
To tell people by first name, I always had trouble to remember someones name at first but once I interiorized I tend to never forget.

· Book complementation
- Dialoge by William Isaacs
- I Ain’t Much, Baby-But I’m All I Got by Jess Lair
- How To Turn People Into Gold by Kenneth M. Goode
- Getting Through To People by Dr Gerald S. Niremberg

[Lowvee Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a Dale Carnegie course for work, years ago. This was a required read, and I'm glad I read it. It helped me learn the skills to really work WITH people, places, things, and to focus on how to the best way to navigate the road ahead, rather than fret over the end result of my journey.

[Pawel Zarzycki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many people said Carnegie is a classic - I just found bunch of obvious truths served in quite infantile way

[Dumitru Moraru · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5
Găsim multe sfaturi ok, care ne-ar ajuta în relațiile cu ceilalți, să câștigăm simpatia cuiva etc. Dar și cum să ne facem mai puține griji și să ne găsim pacea.
Câteva exemple:

- Evită conflictele
- Nu te plânge
- Analizează problema care te îngrijorează și imaginează-ți scenariul cel mai rău. Caută toate soluțiile. Ia măsuri pentru a avea un rezultat mai bun decât scenariul cel mai rău
- Fă o pauză și relaxează-te
- Nu te îngrijora prea mult, pentru că multe griji nu se adeveresc
- Fii onest
- Amintește-ți numele persoanei, deoarece înseamnă mult pentru ea
- Fii mai mult interesat de celălalt decât de tine
- Fii un bun ascultător
- Nu critica persoana, ci oferă-i laude și fă-o să se simtă importantă
- Respectă opiniile cuiva și dacă ai greșit, recunoaște imediat
- Dacă vrei să câștigi inima cuiva, începe cu interesele sale

Personal nu sunt împotrivă să urmăm aceste sfaturi, buna educație ne îndeamnă la așa ceva, fără interese ascunse. Adică să fii un om cu maniere, bine educat, nu gen omul drăguț care caută să facă pe plac tuturor și mai caută aprobarea lor, să-și satisfacă interesele prin ei. Așa om e genul pasiv-agresiv. Se simte un iz persuasiv, manipulator din titlul: Cum să câștigi prieteni și să influențezi oamenii. Cuvântul cheie e "influențezi"! Am impresia că Dale te învață să "pescuiești" oameni. Dacă folosești sfaturile în scopuri nobile, fă-o! Dar dacă vrei să "influențezi" pe cineva ca să-ți atingi un scop, las-o baltă, e plină societatea de așa indivizi!

[Jade La Grange · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's interesting about this book is that for years, my dad would continously urge me to read it because, as per his words, "this book completely changed his life around" in terms of how he should handle people in both his professional and social life. But being his child meant by default, I was to be put off by his recommendations towards doing anything, hence why this book was never to be approached ever because it was too "adulty" and thus, would most likely be too "boring" and "advanced" for me to take anything from it.
And...
I wasn't completely wrong but I definitely shouldn't have been so opposed to ever reading this book in my lifetime.
Because it truly did carry some wise advice, derived from real-life stories of success on how individuals from the past were able to make friends and influence people due to taking Dale Carnegie's insightful courses. All of these stories were then summarized into principles that the reader can easily remember and practially apply in their own lives in terms of using these principles as a filter through which their approach to a situation is advised to pass in order to experience its effectiveness.
Since I'm a history fanatic, I was patient in reading about other people from long ago but when it came to the business side, that patience wore thin. But overall, a book to often look back at when it comes to reminding oneself that empathy is truly the key to unlocking people's desire to want to acknowledge your stance in their lives.

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the leadership books, psychology books, social intelligence books etc, this book synthesizes all of them into a simple execution able process. Love how simple Carnegie makes it, and its all valid and true. Like Seinfeld takes everyday and simply pokes fun at it, Carnegie takes things that impact people and relationships and lays out a path to improve your life. One of my top books ever.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read…some common sense but will help with my new job in larger institution. Hard to see how these tools work in relationships tho: to always let the other speak and not expect interest to go both ways? Seems a bit game playing but I suppose the business world is like that…folks pretend to care?

[Georgiana Gilgallon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christ alive, this book is dull. Definitely a lot of useful, if mostly pretty obvious, advice, but it's deeply repetitive and both the stories and his storytelling are just a bit crap. Suggest you skip to the end of each chapter and take note of the principles.

[Emir Duquela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A LIFE CHANGER BOOK

[Pixelexoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good, contains useful advice, becomes repetitive at the end

[sarchans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendamente útil.
Fácil de leer.

[Roentgenium · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a well-written book. It taught me so much about dealing with people. It was a great read.

[Ruttie U · Rating 4 out of 5]

The how to make friends portion can tend to be a little selfish, the influencing portion is astonishingly good and helpfull

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

The advice that you will get from this book is some of the most useful advice you will get in your life. This along with David Conley's book on "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" are some of the best self-growth books that you can read out there.

It is interesting to see that the topics that are touched upon in this book are things that sound obvious. But people often forget how to operate with others, so I would even suggest reading this book every three months or so. Just to have the content well ingrained in your head.

I totally recommend it, a MUST-read piece of work!

[Isha Aggarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for a person of any age group. It teaches you a lot of things which can be applied at home, with friends, at workspace or anywhere else where there are people and conversations involved. Apart from teaching ways for effective communication, talking which doesn't hurt others etc, conveying our idea respectfully; this book also develops ability in us to observe whether people are conversating with us properly or not. If the ideas shared by this book are applied sincerely, one can live more happily and avoid the conflicts that arise due to poor conversations.

[Marwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

الكاتب ديل كارنيجي كاتب رائع كما قلت والكتاب يستحق القراءة لانك ان كنت قرأت للكاتب فهو بنفس اسلوبه وذلك عن طريق سرد قصص وخبرات اشخاص في الحياة ونتائج خبراتهم وكذلك طرح وصفات على شكل قواعد تؤثر في حياتك اليوميه زيادة على ذلك الحكم الكثيره المفيده في الحياة

كتاب انصح الجميع بقراءته لما فيه من فوائد وبامكان الشخص تغيير نفسه بمجرد قراءة الكتاب

[Lincoln · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely dated. To the point where all the advice and recommendations seem obvious and trite. I’m sure some of the principles don’t change but Abraham Lincoln never had to relate to his colleagues via email and Teddy Roosevelt didn’t have to deal with the pressures of social media. The world - especially in business - is a very different place to the one Dale Carnegie was writing for.

[Ergi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book. Really liked what the author recommends and plan to follow his advice more.
However in my opinion you shouldn't apply everything to the point, because you will risk becoming a fake or a puppet.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Considering it was written so long ago, there is just a certain bit of insight that makes this book feel classic. There is so much common sense and wisdom in this book. An excellent read for anyone.

[Kristian Strauss · Rating 4 out of 5]

All these decades after the first edition this book still holds in how people should improve their sociability; if I had read this when I was younger, I think I would have had an easier time in life than I have had in the past.

[Aurora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great advice given through (mostly) terrible examples. If I'd read this book 15y ago I would've liked it more because I was more naive.
It lacks critical analysis of the advice and no concrete empirical evidence. It could have been summarized in 1/4th of the text and gained strength.

[Gauri Prabhakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I really enjoyed this book. I think Carengie made it very relevant and tangible to the reader by having a plethora of anecdotes throughout—his own stories, his students’ stories, and also the stories of very famous individuals such as John Pierpont Morgan.
One story that stuck with me in particular is the woman who, instead of telling the builders who left her garden a mess to clean it up, cleaned it herself one day and then thanked the builders for cleaning it the next day—and from there on out they left it clean every day.
One criticism I can think of is that I did disagree with some ideas. For example, the suggestion to say something like “I could be wrong, as I am wrong quite often” in order to get someone to listen to you in an argument. I didn’t like this idea of putting yourself down, because I feel like by saying you’re wrong often you end up building a certain reputation for yourself. Also something I worry about is if some of the actions come across as performative e.g. asking someone about a recent achievement but you both also know you want something from them- I guess that when the genuine factor comes in.
Nonetheless, I feel as though there were many life lessons to be taken from this book that I will try to implement into my daily life. In fact, most lessons I could relate to something I’ve been through—whether it was my argument with Urbanest, the type of person someone like Maya is, or even how I was treated in Brighton. It genuinely did change my outlook and i'm very glad I read it.

Now, so I don’t forget, I’m going to go through the four main parts and summarise the most important messages for me

Part 1: Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
Humans often like to blame everyone but themselves. Instead of condemning people, try to understand them and why they do what they do.
When you compliment someone, make it honest and sincere—not just for the sake of saying it. (I feel like I already do this.)

Part 2: How to Make People Like You
Be genuinely interested in people. Alfred Adler: “It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injuries to others.”
A smile enriches those who receive it without impoverishing those who give it.
Remember people’s names. Whether you have to repeat it in your head, spell it out, etc.—it’s a subtle but meaningful compliment.
Talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Even if you need to read about it beforehand—if you want to sign a deal with someone, talk to them on a personal level. Know something about them and ask about it.
Look for something in strangers you can genuinely admire and compliment them on it. (I try to do this but feel like I can do it more. The happiness on someone’s face is unmatched.)
Always make the other person feel important.

Part 3: How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
Let people save face. Even if they’re wrong, you don’t have to explicitly say it—it only embarrasses them and adds nothing to the conversation.
Most arguments end with each side more convinced they’re correct. “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”
Lord Chesterfield: “Be wiser than other people if you can, but do not tell them so.”
Carnegie suggests softening a point by saying: “I may be wrong, let’s examine the facts and correct me if I am.” (I don’t like this—it feels like it discredits you before you even make your point. But Carnegie claims it disarms the other person.)
Rockefeller calmed down strikers by talking to them directly, showing sympathy rather than fighting. “A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.”
Don’t interrupt when people are speaking. They still have ideas of their own “crying for expression,” so they won’t listen to you wholeheartedly if you cut them off.
People may be wrong, but they don’t think so. Don’t condemn or call them out—any fool can do that. Instead, try to understand them. Think how you would feel in their shoes, and why they act the way they do—this is the key to their personality.
In disagreements, try: “I don’t blame you for feeling the way you do. If I were you, I would undoubtedly feel just as you do.” This isn’t a lie—if you had the same environment and experiences as them, you would feel the same way.

Part 4: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
A barber lathers a man before shaving him → begin with praise and honest appreciation.
Call attention to mistakes indirectly (like the garden example).
Ask questions instead of giving direct orders. Example: instead of shouting at a student for mis-parking their car, ask who parked it there and explain why it shouldn’t be parked there. In workplaces, this also stimulates creativity (e.g., “Do you think this would work?”).
Even if you’re right and someone else is wrong, forcing them to “lose face” destroys their ego. Always let people save face.
Give people a fine reputation to live up to. They’ll make a genuine effort to meet it rather than disappoint you. Example: if you want your bed cleaned better, first commend how well they clean in general, build a positive reputation, and then suggest the change you want.

Done.

[Ojo Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated, still somewhat useful for the couple 'a bucks you can find it for.

[Jeremiah Hoffman]

After finishing How to Make Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, I have learned many lessons on how to talk to people. I have learned a lot about myself, I’ve actually learned how I act makes more of a difference than I thought it would have on people. I have learned some of the more common rules of talking to people, and even some of the more difficult lessons. Such as don’t tell someone they are wrong, instead slowly show them the problem with their idea without outright saying that something is wrong with it. Another thing that I learned that many people know is that it makes people excited about what they are doing and they will put more effort into it. Something else that many people may not know is that if you make other people think that your idea that you put into their head is their idea, they will make sure that their idea will be the best it can be.
Overall this book taught me much about how people think and function. Something that I picked up from the book is knowing just how selfish people naturally are. When I say selfish I don’t mean in a rude way, I mean that people want to be important, people want to be recognized, they want to hear their own name. Just knowing this about human nature will help you much in life. If you can appeal to people’s rudimentary ideals and rules you can go much further than most people will. Another lesson that I will make sure to use is the lesson of if you can show interest in other’s interests they will give you all of their attention. An example of this is if you are going to get someone to buy from your business, do some research on their interests. Talk about something they love, like if someone has interest in plants or gardening ask them about their plants on their desk and get them to talk about how much they like planting. Something you have to be cautious about is never not being genuine about your compliments or your interest in their interests. If you are not sincere about your compliments or interests in them then they will know, most people will immediately see through your fakeness.
A common way to get people to work better is to build up a competition. Competition has always been a huge driver to get people to have a desire to be better. Not just being better than others, they build a desire to better themselves. There are so many primal desires you can use to get someone to do more than they are doing, you simply need to know those desires.
Another thing that the book taught me was that confrontation in general will always end badly. Foremost arguments will always end the worst. If you win the argument then you simply embarrass the other person and they won’t even have their opinion changed instead have their opinion more enforced in their head. The best way to win an argument is to not even engage in the argument to start with. There are different ways to make someone notice that they are wrong such as making them notice a problem with their idea by indirectly pointing out the problem. An example of this would be when someone is standing there doing nothing when they should be doing something, don’t tell them to get back to work. What you should do is help them to remember what their job is to do. If they aren’t packaging, hand them something to package and chances are they will continue to do their job and won’t start any resentment towards you.
These tricks that I have put in this paper are a small amount of what is actually inside of the book. Even these tricks would help anyone tremendously to learn, but if you decide to become the best person you can, you should read the book multiple times to really ingrain the tips into your daily life. I’ve used these tricks only for a couple days and I’ve already seen a difference in how people react to me when I try to let them know that they are wrong about a certain thing. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to become a better person and have more in life from the people around you. The book is a short book filled with many stories showing off how people have actually used these tips in their life and what they have gotten from utilizing them in the right ways. Throughout the book I’ve seen people spend an hour with someone busy even when at first the person let them come for 10 minutes. I plan to read this book many more times to really sink in the meaning of the book and take it to heart.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin España
April 27th, 2023
Launchpad Studio

How to Make Friends and Influence People
By: Dale Carnegie

There is a book that every CEO and every successful executive has read; How to Make Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. This book really impressed me. It teaches us how to get what we want by influencing others. This book has much to offer and we can learn much from it. To say I will remember everything is an exaggeration, but I can say that I will probably read it many times, so each time I read it I can learn even more. It's a book about how we can apply certain principles in our daily lives to have better relationships and eventually become relationship masters. As I read each rule, I marveled at how true it was and understood why it was so effective when applied.

These are some of my greatest lessons from this book. Don't criticize, judge, or complain. We must remember that we are dealing with emotional creatures. Instead of criticizing, if we put ourselves in their shoes and find forgiveness and empathy for that person, we'll end up being open-minded and refraining from criticizing that person. Show an honest and sincere appreciation. We often take the people in our lives for granted, so acknowledging them and giving them an honest and heartfelt appreciation will have an impact. The best thing you can do to get out of an argument is to avoid it. It's not worth arguing about. Instead of arguing, try to get the person's point of view and explain why they feel that way or lean to one side. Thank them for knowing this and let them know you will be checking out. This way they will lower their alertness and you will have a much more productive and enjoyable conversation. Never say you're wrong, this follows the previous rule. Try to understand where others are coming from by telling them they are wrong. You turn down a challenge that causes them to shut themselves off from anything you have to say. Be an active listener and let others talk about it. Learn to listen and let the person talk most of the time, instead try to understand and relate to them by asking them questions because there is one thing people love that speaks about you and your interests.

This book was a huge influence on my hero's journey and as I said before I will refer to it many times over the years. I was able to understand a lot about the principles of why they work and the examples to prove it. This book has helped me better understand people and their behavior and will help me be a better mentor and guide to those around me. The quote that impacted me the most from the book was "Pay less attention to what men say. Just watch what they do." I believe that this is very true for its own reasons. We tend to focus on what people say, but actions always speak louder than words.

I recommend this book to anyone looking to understand more about humans and human behavior and how they can improve their relationships and create better connections with people. A must-read. I would give this book a total of 5/5 stars as I mentioned before the impact and awareness created inside of me after reading and understanding how humans really work.

[Nitish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hands down the “Almanac of Social Skills”. Even though the book was published in 1937, the social principles laid down are still applicable to this very day.

Similar to all self-help books this book goes down into tiny details of our daily life that generally go unnoticed. This book presents them in a fashion that is opposite that I have not seen in other books.

For every social principle taught, you are presented with tons and tons of examples and then they are further simplified by the author, the great Dale Carnegie.

You will amazed by the array of people Mr. Carnegie mentions in his examples. You will find stories of people who are from the middle-class or even the lower middle-class people just like us who work a 9 to 5 job. Also, you will find tales of personalities who went to lead conglomerates or even nations applied these principles and reaped benefits out of it.

These are pretty simple principles people in this day of the age are applying and leading a social life others might feel jealous of.

Well, I am only half way through the book and I will have to start all over again just because of the fact that I have read the preface and the ways to get the most out of this book. You will find them right at the beginning of the book. It is mandatory for anyone who reads this book to go through these. This will help you re-evaluate yourself and plug those areas where you might be making a mistake in terms of application of the book.

I will keep on adding more as I go further into the book.

[Minira Samadova · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second time reading this book.
I would highly recommend to carefully read the “how to read this book” section.
Because there is a correct way to read this book and use the principles described in here.
This book should be revisited weekly. I wrote down some of the principles and examples and have them in front of me as a constant reminder.
The author emphasizes that you to accomplish your goals in terms of communicating and influencing others you have to change. It’s not possible to achieve overnight and requires practice so it is indeed necessary to read this book more than once.

I think that although some ideas in this books might sound very obvious there are few of us who actually do follow them. It’s a great reminder of how words can influence your relationship with people. Even if you have good intentions but you can’t communicate them properly you will lose.

This book also teaches empathy and putting yourself into other people’s “shoes”.

Reason for removing one star is because all of the examples in the book are about achieving success as soon as one start to use these principles. I maybe read about one example where the goal wasn’t accomplished?.. or it sounds like it because it portrayed as having one talk will instantly win over the opponent.
Would be interesting to read about a longer pursuit or failed examples too.

[Farhad Zaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

To become a classic, a book's message needs to remain useful and its narrative relevant over time. One might wonder, as I once did, what an american salesman from a previous century has to say that could be useful to a 21st-century immigrant millennial. While some of the examples may seem odd, the author's writing style is what makes this book a classic. It's written as if the author genuinely cared to pass on what he believed made him successful, aiming to create a legacy of education and accessibility rather than building an idol of himself on an ivory tower.

My knowledge of Dale Carnegie's life barely scratches the surface, but I appreciate the effort he put into this book to educate the next generation with better communications skills and a deeper understanding of others. The simple text presents valuable lessons that hold up even in today's virtue-signaling, cancel culture-ridden online world.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to read it. Not because of the novel ideas it discusses or the explanations it provides for complex concepts, but because of the essential skills it teaches that can help us make society a better place for everyone.

[AmbraEnms · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to read the book Lifetime Plan for Success by Dale Carnegie and I can say that it was an extremely valuable read for personal development. The content is clearly oriented towards improving the way of thinking, interpersonal relationships and self-confidence.

Although at times I encountered difficulties in understanding specific terms, especially in the field of physiology, these moments motivated me to seek additional explanations, which led to a deeper understanding of the concepts presented.

One aspect that I particularly appreciated is the emphasis placed on developing communication skills , both in expressing ideas clearly and in public speaking. I consider it an essential book, especially for those who are preparing for business meetings or want to improve their professional presence.

I confidently recommend this book to everyone who wants to grow personally and professionally. It is a practical guide, with relevant examples and advice that can be applied immediately in everyday life.

[Alfred Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carnegie is the grandfather of self-help, and his book reads like notes from a kindly uncle.
The main idea: smile, listen, remember names. Wow — a revolution: people like being treated decently.
The entire book is a catalog of polite tricks that etiquette classes used to cover anyway.
But packaged with American charisma, it became the foundation of a billion-dollar industry.
Carnegie insists that to win friends, you need to take an interest in others. Groundbreaking stuff, Nobel-worthy even.
Still, the book works, because most people need to be spoon-fed even the simplest social skills.
Readers come away thinking they’ve mastered manipulation, though in reality they’ve just started saying hello more often.
The tone is so uplifting it could be handed out in waiting rooms instead of antidepressants.
To be fair, Carnegie never promised miracles — just plain courtesy dressed up as the art of influence.
And that’s why it remains both the simplest and the most useful book in the genre — it’s survived nearly a century.