I’ve seen 1,001 memes from young people that clearly never heard the lessons in “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. They take the title literally and rant about it, as if it’s a text on how to manipulate people. And no, it’s not about being fake in your interactions. It’s about being genuine.
Carnegie simply set out to learn about interpersonal behavior, how to be a better socially. Frustrated by the lack of texts he found, after travelling the country consulting professors and universities, he rolled his own book.
Young people especially should give it a go. So many damned frustrations about being young get instantly bypassed with Carnegie’s wisdom. It’s the “cheat sheet” I had to figure out the hard way.
One can read it in any order, and the author says so! Just pick it up, open to a random chapter, give it a read.
Great example; He tells a story of visiting some folks he didn’t know one night. The host ran his mouth on and on and on. Carnegie just STFU and paid attention to the host. As they were parting, Carnegie was complemented on his fine oratory skills. All because he simply shut up and listened attentively, he was lauded as a great speaker!
A better title for the modern folks would be, “How to Get Along With Other Humans By Being a Genuine Human”.