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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
kmmcgonigle's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, it wasn’t as good as how to win friends and influence people though. I felt that it was a little bit repetitive at times and could have been a lot shorter. I appreciate the amount of examples of the author gave to support his points about worry and anxiety, but did feel that it was a little bit repetitive.
meganshaw79's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, this book is REALLY outdated but the ideas for the most part are still relevant. Sometimes it seems to go off on a religious spin but it is bearable. I like that he states all of these points are ones that we know, we just need to remember to apply them. Yes, that is what I found for the most part so I am trying to remind myself of the methods I already know for reducing worry. (Including the address for every story he used was a bit annoying but shouldn't keep someone from reading the book).
jornhermans's review against another edition
2.0
Dit boek is geschreven in 1948 en de raad die Carnegie geeft, gaat jammer genoeg absoluut niet met zijn tijd mee. Er zijn af en toe wel wat interessante visies op het aanpakken van zorgen, maar die zijn zeldzaam.
Er is ook héél veel herhaling; dit boek had driedubbel zo kort kunnen zijn.
En wat me nog het hardste stoorde, was dat een groot deel van de tips eigenlijk gewoon als volgt was: 'Persoon X krijgt plots een (bijna) goddelijke ingeving, zijn/haar zorgen verdwijnen onmiddellijk als sneeuw voor de zon en hij/zij heeft zich voor de rest van zijn/haar leven geen enkele keer meer zorgen gemaakt'.
Het leven zou makkelijk zijn, moest het allemaal zo werken.
Er is ook héél veel herhaling; dit boek had driedubbel zo kort kunnen zijn.
En wat me nog het hardste stoorde, was dat een groot deel van de tips eigenlijk gewoon als volgt was: 'Persoon X krijgt plots een (bijna) goddelijke ingeving, zijn/haar zorgen verdwijnen onmiddellijk als sneeuw voor de zon en hij/zij heeft zich voor de rest van zijn/haar leven geen enkele keer meer zorgen gemaakt'.
Het leven zou makkelijk zijn, moest het allemaal zo werken.
leslie_maughan's review against another edition
5.0
A bit dated in some phrases and examples, but overall I think this is a great compilation of practical ideas to help decrease worry & increase contentment. I think everyone could get something out of it. Some of my favorite tips include the following:
-live in day-tight compartments
-count your blessings
-realize that gratitude is cultivated, in other words: don't expect it from others; they'll let you down
-writing things down is step 1 toward solutions
-pray
-only have papers on your desk that relate to the current task
-help others & get over yourself
-live in day-tight compartments
-count your blessings
-realize that gratitude is cultivated, in other words: don't expect it from others; they'll let you down
-writing things down is step 1 toward solutions
-pray
-only have papers on your desk that relate to the current task
-help others & get over yourself
ghess's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.75
Nice tips and boring read.
elalizzie's review against another edition
The solutions that the author gives at fist sight seem logical, but when you think about it longer, they don't really apply to real life. I'm disappointed...
hannahfanakapan's review against another edition
4.0
I have never read ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ in my life, and I’m quite far in now, so I’ll have to make do on that front. I have, however, read ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’ about 20 times at least. I’m not sure I have actually stopped worrying, but it has a special place in my heart nonetheless.
When I was about twenty years old, I used to suffer from sleepless nights, you know, the ones where you just can’t catch any rest at all. I came across this book, which was dated even back then, and I used to read and reread the chapter on insomnia in the middle of the night, as a kind of reassurance. It worked quite well, not that it helped me fall asleep necessarily, but it did keep me calm and that’s half the battle. The rest of the book works for me in a similar way- I read it, love all the tips and homilies, forget the entire thing, have a phase of worrying and reread the book as a form of relaxation.
I think it works on two fronts. First, it was first published in 1948. Lots of the tales are about people coping with the Great Depression in the 30’s, or the Second World War, as well as the standard ups and downs of life. They also worry all night, they feel sick and can’t face their lives, they take to their beds with depression, anxiety and anguish. In some ways this is reassuring; it tells us that not coping IS part of life in general, not just our contemporary life, and so not beyond any of us to experience it or learn how to cope.
Second, many of the strategies that Carnegie presents throughout the book are prescient of current trends; mindfulness, living in the moment, changing your beliefs/attitudes (CBT), talking therapies (although he suggests talking with a friend or priest), gratitude and so on. This is because, of course, these are not ‘new’ either, but reworkings of ancient thinking and texts, found in religious, philosophical and cultural writings. There is nothing new under the sun, not here at least.
One thing that is different is that for most of Carnegie’s participants, pills weren’t an option. Valium wasn’t even invented. The only type of sedatives would have been barbiturates. In the whole book of stories, and there are soooo many stories, only one or two use pills for help. There’s no need to theorize this (though if you wanted to, there’s a whole literature on the pharmacueticalization of daily life) more than to say at this current time, we have more choices. It is unclear just how helpful these choices are, if they are morally judged anyway and/or have unpleasant side-effects. That said, I’d rather be me, now, knowing that there’s some less-than-ideal pill options to treat mental health issues than back then when it really was a question of rest, the sanitorium (if you had the money) and prayer, which might not have been terribly successful.
Everyone in Carnegie’s book is successful of course, this is an old-fashioned style book in which people ‘see the light’ about their worries, and never have another day’s stress in their lives. I have no idea whether other people find this book as reassuring as I do at 3am.
When I was about twenty years old, I used to suffer from sleepless nights, you know, the ones where you just can’t catch any rest at all. I came across this book, which was dated even back then, and I used to read and reread the chapter on insomnia in the middle of the night, as a kind of reassurance. It worked quite well, not that it helped me fall asleep necessarily, but it did keep me calm and that’s half the battle. The rest of the book works for me in a similar way- I read it, love all the tips and homilies, forget the entire thing, have a phase of worrying and reread the book as a form of relaxation.
I think it works on two fronts. First, it was first published in 1948. Lots of the tales are about people coping with the Great Depression in the 30’s, or the Second World War, as well as the standard ups and downs of life. They also worry all night, they feel sick and can’t face their lives, they take to their beds with depression, anxiety and anguish. In some ways this is reassuring; it tells us that not coping IS part of life in general, not just our contemporary life, and so not beyond any of us to experience it or learn how to cope.
Second, many of the strategies that Carnegie presents throughout the book are prescient of current trends; mindfulness, living in the moment, changing your beliefs/attitudes (CBT), talking therapies (although he suggests talking with a friend or priest), gratitude and so on. This is because, of course, these are not ‘new’ either, but reworkings of ancient thinking and texts, found in religious, philosophical and cultural writings. There is nothing new under the sun, not here at least.
One thing that is different is that for most of Carnegie’s participants, pills weren’t an option. Valium wasn’t even invented. The only type of sedatives would have been barbiturates. In the whole book of stories, and there are soooo many stories, only one or two use pills for help. There’s no need to theorize this (though if you wanted to, there’s a whole literature on the pharmacueticalization of daily life) more than to say at this current time, we have more choices. It is unclear just how helpful these choices are, if they are morally judged anyway and/or have unpleasant side-effects. That said, I’d rather be me, now, knowing that there’s some less-than-ideal pill options to treat mental health issues than back then when it really was a question of rest, the sanitorium (if you had the money) and prayer, which might not have been terribly successful.
Everyone in Carnegie’s book is successful of course, this is an old-fashioned style book in which people ‘see the light’ about their worries, and never have another day’s stress in their lives. I have no idea whether other people find this book as reassuring as I do at 3am.