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 of style or form from Carnegie's "path-breaking best seller." Although "How to Win Friends and Influence People" ascended quickly on best-seller lists, the "New York Times" did not review it until February 1937. They offered a balanced criticism arguing that Carnegie indeed offered insightful advice in dealing with people, but that his wisdom was extremely simple and should not overrule the foundation of actual knowledge. The satirical writer Sinclair Lewis waited a year to offer his scathing critique. He described Carnegie's method as teaching people to "smile and bob and pretend to be interested in other people's hobbies precisely so