I recently ordered a copy of Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, for an upcoming Book Club project. Taking Paul Graham’s advice, I ordered a pre-1960’s copy – specifically, a 1938 edition. Being a used book, it turned out to carry some interesting mementos of it’s former owner, including a reminder that it’s not always easy to follow through on one’s plans.
Inscription
The inside cover of the book contains this handwritten inscription:
To Paul
A happy birthday
Oct 9, 1938Roselia
Instructions
The 1938 edition is divided into six parts, and at the end of part one (“Fundamental Techniques in Handling People”) are listed “Nine Suggestions on How to Get the Most Out of This Book”. Suggestion 4 is:
Read with a red crayon, pencil, or fountain pen in your hand; and when you come across a suggestion that you feel you can use, draw a line beside it. […]
Application
Indeed, my copy of the book does feature various underlines and tick marks (In red! The reader must have been a literal-minded guy.) throughout the early part of the text. The marks stop at the end of part two (“Six Ways to Make People Like You”) and before part three (“Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking”), but that still represents 45% of the text; not too bad, all things considered.
It can be hard to start something, but it’s often harder to finish.
