How to Win Friends & Influence People in LessWrong

Mar 22, 2012 Mooncalf rated it really liked it

It's a better book than most self help books.
This book is relatively bullshit free and suggests techniques that are less manipulative than other self help books. I wouldn't call it well researched and while there are historical and personal examples it does not reference proper studies. The book sets outs the points that it makes in a useful manner. The book is rather readable and relevant dispite having been written in 1936 and since it is a classic you will at least be getting some cultural k ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 12, 2013 Boyan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, favorites, psychology, self-help, communication

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie was written to serve as a guide to success. According to the author, this book is able to change the mindset of its readers, and it has the ability to completely reshape boring, dispirited lives into successful, exhilarating ones. The book explains key aspects of social and emotional interaction in order to lead readers into this unimaginable change in success. Throughout the book, Carnegie relates his own experiences as well as the experi How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie was written to serve as a guide to success. According to the author, this book is able to change the mindset of its readers, and it has the ability to completely reshape boring, dispirited lives into successful, exhilarating ones. The book explains key aspects of social and emotional interaction in order to lead readers into this unimaginable change in success. Throughout the book, Carnegie relates his own experiences as well as the experiences of his students, which display the positive effects of the actions that he teaches. The book is separated into several chapters that contain a set of principles on a specific subject. Some of these subjects include techniques in handling people, making people like you, and winning people to your way of thinking. Almost all of the content within this book are useful examples of situations that allow readers to connect to the information on an understandable level. The book is better referred to as a guide, written for people to take out and consult with in order to maintain or enhance a professional or social life.
This book brought no regrets on my part. I am so relieved to have found a book that can actually teach people things extremely valuable to life. The numerous principles on how to successfully interact with people can be useful to anyone in almost every field. In the business field it can prove to be a miracle. Many jobs today require people to interact with others and work collaboratively. You may need to sell a doctor new medicines. You may need to create a PowerPoint with coworkers. No matter what it is, people must be able to deal with people successfully. In How to Win Friends and Influence People, Carnegie explains the simple secret he and everyone else should use to get people to do something, writing, “The only way I can get you to do anything is by giving you what you want” (Carnegie 95). This is what makes the book so great. Carnegie perfectly organizes these simple principles and rules that, if we all follow, will lead to a more successful, fulfilling, and accomplished life. I personally feel that I will need to refer to this book later in life because of its simplicity in putting together everyday social rules to illustrate a timeless lesson.
If every single person in any single country were to read and fully indulge the main ideas of this book, then everyone in the world would want to do business with that country. The principles conveyed through Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People seem to be almost guaranteed to work, according to the examples and common sense. This is truly the only book that I have read that I feel will aid me in life. Because of this, I greatly recommend reading this book if you want to excel in a professional and social manner. ...more

Like · see review

Oct 20, 2012 Adom rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, to-reread, priority-2

Fewer new insights than I expected, but a good reminder of best practices. The book is well written for retention of information, with repetitive sets of historical and testimonial examples demonstrating each principle.

P.S. Socrates is *not* a good role model for How to Win Friends and Influence People, whatever Carnegie says.

Like · see review