Books Recommended by Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie was an American writer and created well-known courses on self-development, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. He is famous for his book How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Dale was born in poverty on a farm in Missouri. While he was still a child, he had to wake up at 3 AM to feed pigs and milk cows before going to a rural one room school. When Dale was 16, his family moved to a farm in Warrensburg where he completed his high schooling in 1906.
Two years later, Carnegie went to State Teacher’s College in Warrensburg. After graduating, he started selling correspondence courses to ranchers. He then sold several products such as bacon and soap and became the best salesman in his territory.
He managed to save $500 (about $13 thousand today) to become a Chautauqua (an adult education movement in the US) lecturer, something he had been dreaming for a very long time. He eventually ended up attending American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, but didn’t have much success in this field.
He then returned to New York, unemployed and nearly broke. There he got the idea to teach public speaking, and he persuaded the YMCA manager to allow him to instruct a class in return for 80% of the net proceeds.
In his first attempt, he had run out of material and had to improvise. While trying to get something good out, he suggested that students talk about “something that made them angry.” He realized that this method made speakers unafraid to address a public audience. Constantly growing and improving, by 1914 Dale was making $500 (about $12500 today) per week.
In 1936, Dale published his book How to Win Friends and Influence People which sold million of copies. The book still is highly appreciated as of today, containing advice on how to create success in business and personal lives.
He’s also the author of How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
Dale died in 1955, at 66 years old.