In the Lord of the Rings series, Tolkien introduces the famous character Smeagol with his declaration:

“I am not going to tell you my name, not yet at any rate.”

Names have power.  Carnegie teaches about their power.

Best Quote

“We should be aware of the magic contained in a name and realize that this single item is wholly and completely owned by the person with whom we are dealing … and nobody else.“

Page by Page

100

He said, “Hard work,” and I said, “Don’t be funny.”

101

“No. You are wrong,” he said. “I can call fifty thousand people by their first names.”

“The final list contained thousands and thousands of names; yet each person on that list was paid the subtle flattery of getting a personal letter from James Farley.”

102

“Remember that name and call it easily, and you have paid a subtle and very effective compliment.”

103

“He told the boys and girls in the neighborhood that if they would go out and pull enough clover and dandelions to feed the rabbits, he would name the bunnies in their honor.”

104

“People are so proud of their names that they strive to perpetuate them at any cost.”

105

“Libraries and museums owe their richest collections to people who cannot bear to think that their names might perish from the memory of the race.”

As we walk further down Carnegie’s path of persuasion, another of his methods appears – he will often identify an objection, validate it – and then remove it.

“Most people don’t remember names, for the simple reason that they don’t take the time and energy necessary to concentrate and repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds.”

… “But they were probably no busier than Franklin D. Roosevelt,”

106

“When the driving lesson was finished, the President turned to me and said: ‘Well, Mr. Chamberlain, I have been keeping the Federal Reserve Board waiting thirty minutes.“

Callback to other points of the book – and a look ahead!

107

“One of the first lessons a politician learns is this: “To recall a voter’s name is statesmanship. To forget it is oblivion.””

108

“We should be aware of the magic contained in a name and realize that this single item is wholly and completely owned by the person with whom we are dealing … and nobody else.“

PRINCIPLE 3 Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.