Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) was an American writer and lecturer, best known for his self-improvement and interpersonal skills courses. His most famous and influential work is the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” which was first published in 1936 and has since become a classic in the field of personal development.
Carnegie’s teachings focus on effective communication, building relationships, and developing leadership skills. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” offers practical advice on how to improve social and professional interactions by emphasizing principles such as:
Be genuinely interested in others: Show a sincere interest in people and listen actively to what they have to say.
Smile: A simple smile can go a long way in creating a positive impression and making others feel at ease.
Remember names: People appreciate it when you remember and use their names. It shows that you value them.
Talk in terms of the other person’s interests: Tailor your communication to what the other person finds interesting or important.
Make others feel important: Acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of others. People thrive on recognition and feeling valued.
Dale Carnegie’s principles have been widely adopted in business, sales, and personal development. His courses, based on these principles, are still popular today and have influenced countless individuals seeking to enhance their social and communication skills.
Dale Carnegie Quotes
1. “Our thoughts make us what we are.”
— Dale Carnegie
2. “Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied.”
— Dale Carnegie
3. “Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. ”
— Dale Carnegie
4. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
— Dale Carnegie
5. “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”
— Dale Carnegie
6. “To be interesting, be interested.”
— Dale Carnegie
7. “You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.”
— Dale Carnegie
8. “If you are not in the process of becoming the person you want to be, you are automatically engaged in becoming the person you don’t want to be. ”
— Dale Carnegie
9. “One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.”
— Dale Carnegie
10. “Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration, and resentment.”
— Dale Carnegie
11. “You can measure the size of a person by what makes him or her angry.”
— Dale Carnegie
12. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”
— Dale Carnegie
13. “Be wiser than other people if you can; but do not tell them so.”
— Dale Carnegie
14. “Don’t be afraid of enemies who attack you. Be afraid of the friends who flatter you.”
— Dale Carnegie
15. “An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing.”
— Dale Carnegie
16. “Today is our most precious possession. It is our only sure possession.”
— Dale Carnegie
17. “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
— Dale Carnegie
18. “Talk to someone about themselves and they’ll listen for hours.”
— Dale Carnegie
19. “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
— Dale Carnegie
20. “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.”
— Dale Carnegie
21. “When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness.”
— Dale Carnegie
22. “Every day is a new life to a wise man.”
— Dale Carnegie
23. “Believe that you will succeed, and you will.”
— Dale Carnegie
24. “The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.”
— Dale Carnegie
25. “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”
— Dale Carnegie
26. “Don’t Criticize, Condemn, Or Complain.”
— Dale Carnegie
27. “Stop worrying and start living.”
— Dale Carnegie
28. “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do. But it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.”
— Dale Carnegie
29. “Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
— Dale Carnegie
30. “Two men looked out from prison bars, One saw the mud, the other saw stars.”
— Dale Carnegie
31. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”
— Dale Carnegie
32. “First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.”
— Dale Carnegie
33. “It isn’t work that makes you tired, it’s your mental attitude.”
— Dale Carnegie
34. “Instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness.”
— Dale Carnegie
35. “Life truly is a boomerang. What you give, you get.”
— Dale Carnegie
36. “If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
— Dale Carnegie
37. “Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.”
— Dale Carnegie
38. “The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.”
— Dale Carnegie
39. “The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.”
— Dale Carnegie
40. “If you want to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic.”
— Dale Carnegie
41. “Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could have.”
— Dale Carnegie
42. “Nobody is more persuasive than a good listener.”
— Dale Carnegie
43. “Begin with praise and honest appreciation.”
— Dale Carnegie
44. “All men have fears, but the brave put down their fears and go forward, sometimes to death, but always to victory.”
— Dale Carnegie
45. “No matter what happens, always be yourself.”
— Dale Carnegie
46. “Even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15% of one’s financial success is due one’s technical knowledge and about 85% is due to skill in human engineering, to personality and the ability to lead people.”
— Dale Carnegie
47. “When we have accepted the worst, we have nothing more to lose. And that automatically means we have everything to gain.”
— Dale Carnegie
48. “People like people who help them like themselves.”
— Dale Carnegie
49. “Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.”
— Dale Carnegie
50. “Flaming enthusiasm, backed by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.”
— Dale Carnegie
51. “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”
— Dale Carnegie
52. “Our trouble is not ignorance, but inaction.”
— Dale Carnegie
53. “Face the thing that seems overwhelming and you will be surprised how your fear will melt away.”
— Dale Carnegie
54. “Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
— Dale Carnegie
55. “Once I did bad and that I heard ever. Twice I did good, but that I heard never.”
— Dale Carnegie
56. “When you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have the facts necessary to make a decision. Don’t keep putting off decisions.”
— Dale Carnegie
57. “Act as if you were already happy and that will tend to make you happy.”
— Dale Carnegie
58. “Let us praise even the slightest improvement. That inspires the other person to keep on improving.”
— Dale Carnegie
59. “Give Honest and Sincere Appreciation.”
— Dale Carnegie
60. “Even god doesn’t propose to judge a man till his last days, why should you and I?”
— Dale Carnegie
61. “If you can be kind and considerate for one day, then you can be for another. It won’t cost you a penny in the world. Begin today.”
— Dale Carnegie
62. “Practice, practice, practice in speaking before an audience will tend to remove all fear of audiences, just as practice in swimming will lead to confidence and facility in the water. You must learn to speak by speaking.”
— Dale Carnegie
63. “Do you remember the things you were worrying about a year ago? How did they work out? Didn’t you waste a lot of fruitless energy on account of most of them? Didn’t most of them turn out all right after all?”
— Dale Carnegie
64. “If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities. The thing is to get the work done.”
— Dale Carnegie
65. “Excitement radiates through your eyes, your face, your voice, your soul, and your whole personality.”
— Dale Carnegie
66. “Actions speak louder than words, and a smile says, ‘I like you. You make me happy. I am glad to see you.’ That is why dogs make such a hit. They are so glad to see us that they almost jump out of their skins. So, naturally, we are glad to see them.”
— Dale Carnegie
67. “The most important thing in life is not simply to capitalize on your gains. Any fool can do that. The important thing is to profit from your losses. That requires intelligence, and makes the difference between a man of sense and a fool.”
— Dale Carnegie
68. “If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.”
— Dale Carnegie
69. “One of the surest ways of making a friend and influencing the opinion of another is to give consideration to his opinion, to let him sustain his feeling of importance.”
— Dale Carnegie
70. “Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.”
— Dale Carnegie
71. “If you argue and rankle and contradict, you may achieve a victory sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponent’s goodwill.”
— Dale Carnegie
72. “Success in dealing with people depends on a sympathetic grasp of the other person’s viewpoint.”
— Dale Carnegie
73. “This is the only chance you will ever have on earth with this exciting adventure called life. So why not plan it, and try to live it as richly, as happily as possible?”
— Dale Carnegie
74. “There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.”
— Dale Carnegie
75. “Let’s fight for our happiness by following a daily program of cheerful and constructive thinking.”
— Dale Carnegie
76. “Each party should gain from the negotiation.”
— Dale Carnegie
77. “No one likes to feel that he or she is being sold some-thing or told to do a thing. We much prefer to feel that we are buying of our own accord or acting on our own ideas. We like to be consulted about our wishes, our wants, our thoughts.”
— Dale Carnegie
78. “Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident.”
— Dale Carnegie
79. “You can get ahead in the world. But you will have to work, you will have to want tremendously to accomplish something, and then be willing to pay the price. Are you willing?”
— Dale Carnegie
80. “Encouragement makes a fault easy to correct, and a challenge easy to take on.”
— Dale Carnegie
81. “If you can be sure of being right only 55 percent of the time, you can go down to Wall Street and make a million dollars a day. If you can’t be sure of being right even 55 percent of the time, why should you tell other people they are wrong?”
— Dale Carnegie
82. “One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living.”
— Dale Carnegie
83. “Do things for others and you’ll find your self-consciousness evaporating like morning dew.”
— Dale Carnegie
84. “My popularity, my happiness and sense of worth depend to no small extent upon my skill in dealing with people.”
— Dale Carnegie
85. “Appreciation is the legal tender that all souls enjoy.”
— Dale Carnegie
86. “Flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks about himself.”
— Dale Carnegie
87. “Great speakers are not born, they’re trained.”
— Dale Carnegie
88. “Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.”
— Dale Carnegie
89. “If half a century of living has taught me anything at all, it has taught me that nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”
— Dale Carnegie
90. “Mix judgment with ambition and season it with energy. It makes a splendid recipe for success.”
— Dale Carnegie
91. “Naturalness is the easiest thing in the world to acquire, if you will forget yourself-forget about the impression you are trying to make.”
— Dale Carnegie
92. “If only the people who worry about their liabilities would think about the riches they do possess, they would stop worrying.”
— Dale Carnegie
93. “There is only one excuse for a speaker’s asking the attention of his audience: he must have either truth or entertainment for them.”
— Dale Carnegie
94. “We can all endure disaster and tragedy, and triumph over them-if we have to. We may not think we can, but we have surprisingly strong inner resources that will see us through if we will only make use of them. We are stronger than we think.”
— Dale Carnegie
95. “The man who grasps an opportunity as it is paraded before him, nine times out of ten makes a success, but the man who makes his own opportunities is, barring an accident, a sure-fire success.”
— Dale Carnegie
96. “So if you aspire to be a good conversationalist, be an attentive listener.”
— Dale Carnegie
97. “If you want enemies, excel your friends; but if you want friends, let your friends excel you.”
— Dale Carnegie
98. “If you want others to like you, if you want to develop real friendships, if you want to help others at the same time as you help yourself, keep this principle in mind: Become genuinely interested in other people.”
— Dale Carnegie
99. “A talk is a voyage. It must be charted. The speaker who starts nowhere usually gets there.”
— Dale Carnegie
100. “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.”
— Dale Carnegie
