How to Win Friends & Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
View on GoodreadsDale Carnegie's 1936 self-help classic — practical principles for improving relationships, persuading others, and leading without resentment — that has remained continuously in print and influential through 90 years of cultural change.
Core ideas
- The fundamental techniques (don't criticize, give honest appreciation, arouse an eager want in the other person) are simple enough to sound trite but operational enough that consistent application produces measurable relationship effects.
- "The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it" — Carnegie's anti-argument framing has aged better than it gets credit for; the empirical literature on persuasion via direct disagreement matches Carnegie's intuition.
- The book has been criticized as manipulative — the same techniques work for sincere connection and for con artistry — and the ethical valence depends on the user's underlying intent, which Carnegie acknowledges throughout.
Published1936
Pages288
ISBN9780671027032
ReadNov 2019
