Friday, May 27, 2005

Dale Carnegie and I ... Try to Take Over the World!

I recently read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People for a library science class, of all things. I got such a kick out this book. It's a motivational, quasi-self-help book about, you guessed it, how to win friends and influence people. (See my previous post on self-help books here.)
A lot of it is pretty obvious -- get people talking about themselves, ask people about their passions, etc. But it's presented in such a charming manner. Carnegie was writing in the 1930s, so a lot of the writing has this yesteryear lilt to it. It's almost Hemmingway-esque.
Sample passage:
Remember that other people may be totally wrong. But they don't think so. Don't condemn them. Any fool can do that. Try to understand them. Only wise, tolerant, exceptional people even try to do that.
So I've been using my Carnegie method on friends and co-workers. It makes me feel sneaky, but also kinda smart. And definitely goofy. If you've ever seen Pinky and the Brain, the cartoon about the two mice who wake up everyday and launch a new plan to try and take over the world ... It's like that. Check out the Pinky and the Brain World Domination Page here.

1 comment:

Dennis G. Jerz said...

While parts of that book are dated, I re-read it once or twice a year. I took it with me on my last plane trip. I find it very helpful in my current role as adviser to a college newspaper.