Some useful advice, but I couldn't get past the repetitiveness and casual sexism. ( )

Hmmm, well, my review on this one is going to be mixed -- on the one hand, I found the reader soothing and some of the stories and philosophies were helpful to me; one the other hand, Dale Carnegie was an adult in 1909 and it shows -- dismissive and patronizing comments about women, foul opinions about "melancholics" (depressed people), dated language and an overdependence on prayer/Christian thought.

There's also a whole chapter convincing the reader why worry is a problem that is pretty stressful for those of us who are worried about the medical effects of stress -- just sayin' -- I'm reading the book to reduce my worry, not increase the possible reasons for it. I also appreciate that as indoctrinated Christian writings go, this is relatively neutral -- he's all about the power of prayer no matter what your religion is, but I had to skip at least one chapter completely and when he started praising the founder of Christian Science, it set off a fair few alarm bells for me. Anyway, those are my personal biases, and I have to admit I was charmed and intrigued to hear about what people in earlier America were thinking. I can't tell exactly what decade this book was intended for, but I suspect the 1950s. It's an interesting time capsule.

With regards to the tangible advice portion, I found some of it helpful, and in line with my therapist's suggestions -- break down the problem into manageable chunks, try and redirect your brain when it gets fixated on the problem, find ways to reduce your fear and remove the problem from the influence of overwhelming emotion. I also really respond well to personal anecdotes as a learning tool -- when I have a problem, often I will turn to friends to ask how they have handled things as part of my own process. This book felt very similar -- giving me little road maps to think about and determine whether they are useful to me. ( )

It didn't stop me from worrying, but gave me a couple of techniques to prevent worry from dominating my life. ( )

A preocupação esgota nossa energia, deturpa nossos pensamentos e enfraquece qualquer ambição. Entretanto pode-se, realmente fazer alguma coisa para se evitar a preocupação?neste livro, Dale Carnegie mostra que é possível através de técnicas comprovadas que deram certo para milhares de homens e mulheres em todo o mundo. Ele oferece o conjunto de fórmulas práticas que poderão durar toda um existência. Este livro contém profundas verdades que fascinam a leitura e são de fácil aplicação.

Carnegie presents interesting methods or avoiding worry but spends too much time proselytizing for Christianity. I did not like all of the religious aspects of his book but appreciate some of the methods he outlines for avoiding worry. It is an easy read full of anecdotes but way too much religion. ( )