150 Quotes by Dale Carnegie

You'll never achieve real success unless you like what you're doing. (Quote Meaning)

Your purpose is to make your audience see what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. (Meaning)

You can't win an argument. You can't because if you lose it, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it. (Quote Meaning)

Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language. (Meaning)

Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed. (Quote Meaning)

There is only one way... to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it. (Meaning)

Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. (Quote Meaning)

It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.

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If you are not in the process of becoming the person you want to be, you are automatically engaged in becoming the person you don't want to be.

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.

When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness. (Meaning)

Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire. (Quote Meaning)

The world is so full of people who are grabbing and self-seeking. So the rare individual who unselfishly tries to serve others has an enormous advantage. He has little competition.

Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

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The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.

The value of a smile... 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 along without it, and none 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.

Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.

If you do something for someone else, never remember. If someone does something for you, never forget.

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have. (Meaning)

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. (Quote Meaning)

An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing.

Life truly is a boomerang. What you give, you get.

If you want to conquer fear, don't sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

Fear is the result of a lack of confidence. A lack of confidence is the result of not knowing what you can do. A lack of knowing what you can do is caused by a lack of experience. A lack of experience is caused by a lack of doing something new.

If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive.

If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. (Meaning)

You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind. (Quote Meaning)

Pay less attention to what men say. Just watch what they do.

One of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate. When we worry, our minds jump here and there and everywhere, and we lose all power of decision. However, when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally, we then eliminate all those vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem.

Everybody in the world is seeking happiness - and there is one sure way to find it. That is by controlling your thoughts. Happiness doesn't depend on outward conditions. It depends on inner conditions.

Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think. So start each day by thinking of all the things you have to be thankful for. Your future will depend very largely on the thoughts you think today. So think thoughts of hope and confidence and love and success.

Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.

You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing.

Don't be afraid of enemies who attack you. Be afraid of the friends who flatter you.

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it. (Meaning)

The person who seeks all their applause from outside has their happiness in another's keeping. (Quote Meaning)

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.

It isn't work that makes you tired, it's your mental attitude.

Your smile brightens the lives of all who see it. To someone who has seen a dozen people frown, scowl or turn their faces away, your smile is like the sun breaking through the clouds.

Face the thing that seems overwhelming and you will be surprised how your fear will melt away.

All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put the past together again. So let's remember: Don't try to saw sawdust.

Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied. (Meaning)

Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude. (Quote Meaning)

Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

Fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind.

Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment. (Meaning)

Learning is an active process. We learn by doing.. Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind.

Criticism of others is futile and if you indulge in it often you should be warned that it can be fatal to your career.

Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.

Act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic. (Quote Meaning)

The biggest lesson I have learned is the stupendous importance of what we think. If I knew what you think, I would know what you are, for your thoughts make you what you are; by changing our thoughts, we can change our lives.

Once you have made a careful decision based on facts, go into action. Don't stop to reconsider. Don't begin to hesitate, worry, and retrace your steps. Don't lose yourself in self-doubting which begets other doubts. Don't keep looking back over your shoulder.

When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health and our happiness. Our enemies would dance with joy if only they knew how they were worrying us, lacerating us, and getting even with us! Our hate is not hurting them at al, but our hate is turning our days and nights into a hellish turmoil.

Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. (Meaning)

Let's never try to get even with our enemies, because if we do we will hurt ourselves far more than we hurt them. Let's do as General Eisenhower does: let's never waste a minute thinking about people we don't like.

Listen first. Give your opponents a chance to talk. Let them finish. Do not resist, defend or debate. This only raises barriers. Try to build bridges of understanding.

Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours.

There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it.

Actions speak louder than words, and a smile says, 'I like you. You make me happy. I am glad to see you.' That is why dogs make such a hit. They are so glad to see us that they almost jump out of their skins. So, naturally, we are glad to see them.

Enthusiasm is the dynamics of your personality. Without it, whatever abilities you may possess lie dormant; and it is safe to say that nearly every man has more latent power than he ever learns to use. You may have knowledge, sound judgment, good reasoning faculties; but no one-not even yourself-will know it until you discover how to put your heart into thought and action.

Three-fourths of the people you will ever meet are hungering and thirsting for sympathy. Give it to them, and they will love you.

Improving yourself is a lot more profitable than trying to improve others.

The world is filled with interesting things to do. Don't lead a dull life in such a thrilling world.

Why prove to a man he is wrong? Is that going to make him like you? Why not let him save face? He didn't ask for your opinion. He didn't want it. Why argue with him? You can't win an argument, because if you lose, you lose it; and if you win it, you lose it. Why? You will feel fine. But what about him? You have made him feel inferior, you hurt his pride, insult his intelligence, his judgment, and his self-respect, and he'll resent your triumph. That will make him strike back, but it will never make him want to change his mind. A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.

In talking with people, don't begin by discussing the things on which you differ. Begin by emphasizing - and keep on emphasizing - the things on which you agree. Keep emphasizing, if possible, that you are both striving for the same end and that your only difference is one of method and not of purpose.

We all have possibilities we don't know about. We can do things we don't even dream we can do.

This is the only chance you will ever have on earth with this exciting adventure called life. So why not plan it, and try to live it as richly, as happily as possible?

The words "Think and Thank" are inscribed in many of the Cromwellian churches of England. These words ought to be inscribed in our hearts, too: "Think and Thank". Think of all we have to be grateful for, and thank God for all our boons and bounties.

Forget yourself by becoming interested in others. Do every day a good deed that will put a smile of joy on someone's face.

Nobody is more persuasive than a good listener

If you want to know how to make people shun you and laugh at you behind your back and even despise you, here is the recipe: Never listen to anyone for long. Talk incessantly about yourself. If you have an idea while the other person is talking, don't wait for him or her to finish: bust right in and interrupt in the middle of a sentence.

Don't ask a man what is important to him. Watch how he spends his time

If you can be kind and considerate for one day, then you can be for another. It won't cost you a penny in the world. Begin today.

Abilities wither under criticism; they blossom under encouragement.

90% of all management problems are caused by miscommunication.

Do the thing you fear to do and keep on doing it... that is the quickest and surest way ever yet discovered to conquer fear.

Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think.

Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes them strive to justify themselves. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts their sense of importance, and arouses resentment.

Praise is like sunlight to the warm human spirit; we cannot flower and grow without it. And yet, while most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somehow reluctant to give our fellow the warm sunshine of praise.

Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.

"Do you know the most important trait a man can have?

It is not executive ability; it is not a great mentality; it is not kindliness, nor courage, nor a sense of humor, though each of these is of tremendous importance.

In my opinion, it is the ability to make friends, which, boiled down, means the ability to see the best in man."

Our trouble is not ignorance, but inaction.

If you must make a mistake, make a new one each time.

The way to defeat fear: decide on a course of conduct and follow it. Keep so busy and work so hard that you forget about being afraid.

So if you aspire to be a good conversationalist, be an attentive listener. To be interesting, be interested. Ask questions that other persons will enjoy answering. Encourage them to talk about themselves and their accomplishments

First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.

It is the way we react to circumstances that determines our feelings.

You are something new in this world. Never before, since the beginning of time, has there ever been anybody exactly like you; and never again throughout all the ages to come will there ever be anybody exactly like you again.

If you want others to like you, if you want to develop real friendships, if you want to help others at the same time as you help yourself, keep this principle in mind: Become genuinely interested in other people.

Keep your mind open to change all the time. Welcome it. Court it. It is only by examining and reexamining your opinions and ideas that you can progress.

When dealing with people, let us remember that 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. ...Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.

Believe that you will succeed, and you will.

A smile is nature's best antidote for discouragement. It brings rest to the weary, sunshine to those who are frowning, and hope to those who are hopeless and defeated. A smile is so valuable that it can't be bought, begged, borrowed, or taken away against your will. You have to be willing to give a smile away before it can do anyone else any good. So if someone is too tired or grumpy to flash you a smile, let him have one of yours anyway. Nobody needs a smile as much as the person who has none to give.

If you want to be a good conversationalist, be a good listener. To be interesting, be interested.

you can measure the size of a person by what makes him or her angry

If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.

if you want to keep happiness , you have to share it !

I realize now that people are not thinking about you and me or caring what is said about us. They are thinking about themselves-before breakfast, after breakfast, and right on until ten minutes past midnight. They would be a thousand times more concerned about a slight headache of their own than they would about the news of your death or mine.

Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.

The most important thing in life is not simply to capitalize on your gains. Any fool can do that. The important thing is to profit from your losses. That requires intelligence, and makes the difference between a man of sense and a fool.

When we have accepted the worst, we have nothing more to lose. And that automatically means we have everything to gain.

Even god doesn't propose to judge a man till his last days, why should you and I?

The only way on Earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.

Remember that other people may be totally wrong. But they don't think so. Don't condemn them. Any fool can do that. Try to understand them. Only wise, tolerant, exceptional people even try to do that.

We all have possibilities we don't know about. We can do things we don't even dream we can do. It's only when necessity faces us that we rise to the occasion and actually do the things that hitherto have seemed impossible.

Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

There is one all-important law of human conduct. If we obey that law, we shall almost never get into trouble. In fact, that law, if obeyed, will bring us countless friends and constant happiness. But the very instant we break the law, we shall get into endless trouble. The law is this: Always make the other person feel important.

No matter what happens, always be yourself.

Don't Criticize, Condemn, Or Complain.

Get the facts. Let's not even attempt to solve our problems without first collecting all the facts in an impartial manner.

Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.

If you argue and rankle and contradict, you may achieve a victory sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponent's good will.

Everyday is a new life to a wise man.

Let's fight for our happiness by following a daily program of cheerful and constructive thinking.

Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses. (Meaning)

Check up each week on the progress you are making. Ask yourself what mistakes you have made, what improvement, what lessons you have learned for the future.

Try honest to see things from the other person's point of view.

I've found that worry and irritation vanish into thin air the moment I open my mind to the many blessings I possess.

Take charge of your attitude. Don't let someone else choose it for you.

The best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today's work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future. (Quote Meaning)

People aren't interested in you. They're interested in themselves

Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.

Your smile brightens the lives of all who see it.

People do things for "their" reasons, not ours. So find their reasons.

A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. Intelligence is like underwear, everyone has it, but you don't have to show it off. The expression a woman wears on her face is more important than the clothes she wears on her back.

You are going to survive. And good things are going to start to happen again. And one day you are going to look back and this will not even be such a bad thing

An old man was asked what had robbed him of joy in his life. His reply was, "Things that never happened."

Let us not get so busy or live so fast that we can't listen to the music of the meadow or the symphony that glorifies the forest. Some things in the world are far more important than wealth; one of them is the ability to enjoy simple things.

Don't criticize, condemn or complain. Constantly criticizing, condemning and complaining is what breaks most relationships. Instead of criticizing and condemning, figure out how you can solve the problem together. Instead of focusing on blaming the other person for what they did wrong, focus on how you can avoid the problem next time.

By criticizing, we do not make lasting changes and often incur resentment.

Our mental attitude is the x factor that determines our fate.

Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.

Let us praise even the slightest improvement. That inspires the other person to keep on improving.

If we think happy thoughts, we will be happy. If we think miserable thoughts, we will be miserable.

Tell me what gives a man or woman their greatest pleasure and I'll tell you their philosophy of life.

All men have fears, but the brave put down their fears and go forward, sometimes to death, but always to victory.

Our thoughts make us what we are.

There is no such thing as constructive criticism.

We move toward what we picture in our minds.

Success in dealing with people depends on sympathetic grasp of the other person's viewpoint.

The life of many a person could probably be changed if only someone would make him feel important.

The best things in life are yours, if you can appreciate yourself.

Why talk about what we want? That is childish. Absurd. Of course, you are interested in what you want. You are eternally interested in it. But no one else is. The rest of us are just like you: we are interested in what we want.