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Introduction

Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People was a first in the interpersonal skills category. The book was on the NYT best sellers list for 10 years and has sold over 16,000,000 copies (Source: Wikipedia). This summary will help you master the ideas in the book.

Carnegie implored his readers to be sincere always — to see people and relationships as ends in themselves rather than as the means to an ends. Learning social skills only becomes manipulation when you see others as the means to your ends.

The Notes

This summary guide will help anyone build relationships and motivate others.  My reinterpretations of the ideas in the book have eliminated redundancies and only presented the main ideas so that modern readers can better retain the information. I've also added a few examples and supporting points that might better apply to a modern office environment. I’ve edited and reorganized two summaries based on your time constraints:

• Basic Guide  — Appx. reading time < 5 minutes*
• Comprehensive Guide (recommended) — Appx. reading time < 14 minutes*

In order to fully appreciate and retain Carnegie's teachings, please consider purchasing a copy of the book here or a higher quality print edition here. The original fills page after page with examples that fully illustrate Carnegie's principles. Summaries true to the original's organization and presentation can be found here or top-lined here.

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If you enjoy this summary, you might also like my summary of Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.