Wednesday August 29 2012
I happened to mention that the most important book you wil ever read is Dale Carnegie's
How to Win Friends and Influence People.
The book was written in the 1930s but while times change people don't. The book has sold millions of
copies and when I amazoned it I was amazed to discover that new editions still fetch $12. My yellowed copy reported it was the 18th printing, an amazing record for a non fiction book.
Carnegie sums it up this way
You will make more friends in two months by showing an interest in other people than
you will make in two years trying to get them interested in you.
No kidding.
Carnegie himself was amazed at the results. Even during the Depression the book sold thousands of copies, people would flock to his seminars.
My students have suggested, and I agree, that it would benefit from a re write to have more modern examples in the book. Admimttedly Carnegie of course writes in his own day and age, Clark Gable, not Brad Pitt, was the reigning movie star. And the letters he re prints are dated but still genuine.
Try it, you wil like it.
Professor Elam 
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