Ruhee Nirodi

How to Win Friends and Influence People Part One Summary

The remainder of the first part of Carnegies book deals with human
nature and the art of interacting with people. Carnegie states that people
have basic needs that they want to be met such as having enough food,
sleep, and money, but that they also want to be recognized and appreciated.
Everyone acquires a feeling of importance in different ways. For
Rockefeller, it was philanthropy. For Shakespeare, it was receiving a coat of
arms. Charles Schwabb, the first person in the US to be paid around one
million dollars in salary, claimed that he received his high paying job not for
his knowledge in his field, but rather for his ability to understand and
enthuse people. He attributes his talents to the fact that he never criticizes
anyone and instead praises people. But flattery doesnt always work. The
people who are not desperate enough for compliments can often see through
it and deem it shallow. Flattery is shallow and often insincere but
appreciation is honest and is not selfish like flattery. The third chapter of this
book deals with concept of influencing people. Carnegie states that in order
for a person to be influential, they must concern themselves with what other
people want. Everything we have done in our lives is the result of us wanting
something. The ultimate moral of this chapter is that we have to concern
ourselves with what matters to other people if we want to persuade them
and influence them.