“You’ll never achieve real success unless
you like what you’re doing.”
–Dale Carnegie
Perhaps the most well-known author in the field of communication and public speaking, Dale Carnegie was born into poverty on a small farm in Maryville Missouri. Devoted to public speaking from his teen years, he was active in debate in high school. Carnegie attended Warrensburg (Mo.) State Teachers College, and became a salesman for Armour and Company in Nebraska. Moving to New York City in pursuit of an acting career, he gave classes in public speaking at the Young Men’s Christian Association. Soon he was developing courses on his own, and writing pamphlets that he would eventually publish as books. Carnegie believed that the quickest way to develop self-esteem is through public speaking.
In the early 1930s he was known for his books and a radio program. When he published How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1930, it enjoyed immediate success and would become one of the best-sellers of all time, selling more than 10 million copies in many languages. This led to demand for him as a lecturer and writer: he began a syndicated newspaper column and organized the Dale Carnegie Institute for Effective Speaking and Human Relations, with branches all over the world. He lived to see the day when his name became virtually synonymous with the very kind of self-help-to-success that he promoted.
Dale Carnegie loved to teach others how to become successful. His rock-solid, time-tested advice has helped many now-famous people to climb the ladder of success. How to Win Friends and Influence People remains one of the best-sellers of all time, because of its colorful illustrative stories and simple, well-phrased rules. Two of Dale Carnegie’s most famous maxims are, “Believe that you will succeed, and you will,” and “Learn to love, respect and enjoy other people.” Dale Carnegie died in 1955 at the age of 67.
