How to Win Friends and Influence People Read Free

of
    various sorts which he habitually fails to use,”

    Those powers which you “habitually fail to use”! The
    sole purpose of this book is to help you discover, develop
    and profit by those dormant and unused assets,

    “Education,” said Dr. John G. Hibben, former president
    of Princeton University, “is the ability to meet life’s
    situations,”

    If by the time you have finished reading the first three
    chapters of this book- if you aren’t then a little better
    equipped to meet life’s situations, then I shall consider
    this book to be a total failure so far as you are concerned.
    For “the great aim of education,” said Herbert Spencer,
    “is not knowledge but action.”

    And this is an action book.

DALE CARNEGIE

 
    Nine Suggestions
    on How to Get the Most
    Out of This Book
     
    1. If you wish to get the most out of this book, there is
    one indispensable requirement, one essential infinitely
    more important than any rule or technique. Unless you
    have this one fundamental requisite, a thousand rules on
    how to study will avail little, And if you do have this
    cardinal endowment, then you can achieve wonders
    without reading any suggestions for getting the most out
    of a book.

    What is this magic requirement? Just this: a deep,
    driving desire to learn, a vigorous determination to increase
    your ability to deal with people.

    How can you develop such an urge? By constantly
    reminding yourself how important these principles are
    to you. Picture to yourself how their mastery will aid you
    in leading a richer, fuller, happier and more fulfilling
    life. Say to yourself over and over: "My popularity, my
    happiness and sense of worth depend to no small extent
    upon my skill in dealing with people.”

    2. Read each chapter rapidly at first to get a bird's-eye
    view of it. You will probably be tempted then to rush on
    to the next one. But don’t - unless you are reading
    merely for entertainment. But if you are reading because
    you want to increase your skill in human relations, then
    go back and reread each chapter thoroughly. In the long
    run, this will mean saving time and getting results.

    3. Stop frequently in your reading to think over what
    you are reading. Ask yourself just how and when you can
    apply each suggestion.

    4. Read with a crayon, pencil, pen, magic marker or
    highlighter in your hand. When you come across a suggestion
    that you feel you can use, draw a line beside it.
    If it is a four-star suggestion, then underscore every sentence
    or highlight it, or mark it with “****.” Marking and
    underscoring a book makes it more interesting, and far
    easier to review rapidly.

    5. I knew a woman who had been office manager for
    a large insurance concern for fifteen years. Every month,
    she read all the insurance contracts her company had
    issued that month. Yes, she read many of the same contracts
    over month after month, year after year. Why? Because
    experience had taught her that that was the only
    way she could keep their provisions clearly in mind.
    I once spent almost two years writing a book on public
    speaking and yet I found I had to keep going back over
    it from time to time in order to remember what I had
    written in my own book. The rapidity with which we
    forget is astonishing.

    So, if you want to get a real, lasting benefit out of this
    book, don’t imagine that skimming through it once will
    suffice. After reading it thoroughly, you ought to spend
    a few hours reviewing it every month, Keep it on your
    desk in front of you every day. Glance through it often.
    Keep constantly impressing yourself with the rich possibilities
    for improvement that still lie in the offing. Remember
    that the use of these principles can be made
    habitual only by a constant and vigorous campaign of
    review and application. There is no other way.

    6. Bernard Shaw once remarked: “If you teach a man
    anything, he will never learn.” Shaw was right. Learning
    is an active process. We learn by doing.