Dale Carnegie Dale Carnegie Dale Harbison Carnegie (; spelled Carnagey until c. 1922; November 24, 1888 – November 1, 1955) was an American writer and lecturer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Born into poverty on a farm in Missouri, he was the author of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" (1936), a bestseller that remains popular today. He also wrote "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" (1948), "Lincoln the Unknown" (1932), and several other books. One of the core ideas in his books is that it is possible to
How to Win Friends and Influence People sold 250,000 copies in the first three months. The book has sold over 15 million copies worldwide since and annually sells in excess of 100,000 copies. A recent Library of Congress survey ranked Carnegie's volume as the seventh most influential book in American history. The book met widespread popularity, but also stark criticism in many cases. Despite many of the negative comments from his critics, Carnegie's book established a new genre. Carnegie described his book as an "action-book" but the category he created has since become known as the self-help genre. Almost every self-help book since has borrowed some type