Thumbs up for How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Psychology.
Finally got around to reading this classic. It’s the people who don’t think they need to read it who probably need to read it most, of course; and I didn’t want to be one of those kind of people. It’s safe to say that whatever your feelings about How to Win Friends…, it won’t do you any harm, and could conceivably do a world of good. It’s clear, conversational, entertaining, and contains an astute and comprehensive list of practical do’s and don’ts about dealing with other human beings. In other words: it is exactly what it’s being sold as. You should probably read it. If you scoff, you DEFINITELY need to read it.
It was a sorely needed lesson because I had been an inveterate arguer. During my youth, I had argued with my brother about everything under the Milky Way. When I went to college, I studied logic and argumentation and went in for debating contests. Talk about being from Missouri, I was born there. I had to be shown. Later, I taught debating and argumentation in New York; and once, I am ashamed to admit, I planned to write a book on the subject. Since then, I have listened to, engaged in, and watched the effects of thousands of arguments. As a result of all this, I have come to the conclusion that there is only one way under high heaven to get the best of an argument – and that is to avoid it. Avoid it as you would avoid rattlesnakes and earthquakes.
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