How To Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie

This book, and all of Dale Carnegie's books, focus around the area of communication - both within oneself and with others. How To Win Friends and Influence People attempts to show people how to communicate with others more effectively. It is about being likeable, making friends and understanding how to have an influence with others.

One of the most prominant principles in this book is about smiling. Carnegie talks about how easy a smile is to give, yet a simple smile could change the course of the recipients day.

The Value of a Smile at Christmas

"It costs nothing, but creates much. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. None are so rich they can get a long without it, and none are so poor but are richer for its benefits. It creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in a business, and is the countersign of friends. It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and Nature's best antidote for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anybody till it is given away. And if in the last-minute rush of Christmas buying some of our salespeople should be too tired to give you a smile, may we ask you to leave one of yours? For nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give!"