Kendel Christensen's Reviews > How to Win Friends and Influence People

Save the gospel itself, and my mission president, this book has been the single most influential thing in my life. Insightful? Yes. Timeless, Absolutely. But for someone who had no social skills to speak of until his mission? Transformative.

Here are just a FEW of the nuggets in this amazing book:

“Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him.”
(Emerson, As quoted by Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People, p. 31)

“You will never get into trouble by admitting that you may be wrong. That will . . . inspire your opponent to be just as fair and open . . . as you are. It will make him want to admit that he, too, may be wrong.”
(Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People, p. 125)

“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
“‘A great man shows his greatness,’ said Carlyle, ‘by the way he treats little men.’”

“Criticisms are like homing pigeons. They always return home. Let’s realize that the person we are going to correct and condemn will probably justify himself or herself, and condemn us in return”

“There is a certain degree of satisfaction in having the courage to admit one's errors. It not only clears the air of guilt and defensiveness, but often helps solve the problem created by the error.”
(Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People, p. 138)

But my #1, favorite principle from this book is DEFINITELY:
‘If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.’
“That is so simple, so obvious . . . yet 90 percent of the people on this earth ignore it 90 percent of the time.”
(Henry Ford, then Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People, p. 37)