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How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold over 30 million copies and continues to be popular long after its 1936 debut. First, it was innovative as one of the first “self-help” books. By describing what a person could gain by examining how one interacts with the world, its basic premise was quite revolutionary: success can start with the individual. The book also has several other factors working in its favor. Its appeal can be found in its simplicity, broad applicability, and overall message. The writing of the book is very approachable and accessible. Any time Carnegie references history or psychology, he gives a simple explanation of any larger concepts. Overall, the chapters are short, and each examines a single idea that is not difficult to understand or employ. 

The concepts in the book are also applicable to many different fields, as well as to living a successful life in general apart from workplace applications. While the book uses examples that were contemporary for Dale Carnegie in the first half of the 20th century, they have not ceased to be relevant. Businesses still need to convince clients. Managers still need to motivate and correct their employees. Teachers still have difficult students. Couples still quarrel. Parents still struggle to convince their children to do their chores. While the industries, companies, and historical personages that Carnegie mentions tend to sound quite dated to 21st century readers, Carnegie’s advice itself still translates if you can look beyond the dated references.

Another key feature that contributes to the book’s continued success is its overall message to be considerate of others. Almost all the tools in the book revolve around being humble, kind, and treating others equally and fairly. Most of the advice for “influencing people” is a series of tools for the reader to use to try to change another person’s opinions without invalidating the other person’s ideas. In the end, How to Win Friends and Influence People is an accessible and applicable book that tells people to be mindful of one another. As the book approaches its tenth decade of steady sales, its tone and that message have clearly succeeded in finding and retaining a wide audience.

One aspect of Carnegie’s book that modern readers might find striking is its almost total male-focused perspective, which is something most readers in 1936 would not have noticed since “business” at the time was considered an overwhelmingly male domain. While the book was slightly revised to make it sound more “current” in 1981, it still reads like a time capsule from the first half of the 20th century in this regard.

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