AN OLDIE BUT A GOODIE

Melissa recently came across the old title How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, first published in 1936. 

I am sure I read it years ago, but the lessons didn't stick with me back then. Now? I am just a few chapters in but it is affirming many of my recently formed convictions about human nature.

For example, on page 13:

"When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity." 

Or this, on page 5:

"Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, people don't criticize themselves for anything, no matter how wrong it may be." 

And on page 23:

Carnegie quotes Charles Schwab: "I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement." 

To be clear, those first two quotes may seem quite cynical. Neither Carnegie nor I mean them in that manner. Rather than cynical, they are simply straightforward acknowledgments of the reality of human nature. 

One has to come to grips with the reality of human nature if one hopes to make sense of human interactions.