How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Chapter 16 I have a letter from Mrs. Edith Allred, of Mount Airy, North Carolina: “As a child, I was extremely sensitive and shy,” she says in her letter. “I was always overweight and my cheeks made me look even fatter than I was. I had an old-fashioned mother who thought it was foolish to […]

Chapter 15 I have known Harold Abbott for years. He lives at 820 South Madison Avenue, Webb City, Missouri. He used to be my lecture manager. One day he and I met in Kansas City and he drove me down to my farm at Belton, Missouri. During that drive, I asked him how he kept

Chapter 14 I recently met a business man in Texas who was burned up with indignation. I was warned that he would tell me about it within fifteen minutes after I met him. He did. The incident he was angry about had occurred eleven months previously, but he was still burned up about it. He

Chapter 13 ONE NIGHT, years ago, as I was travelling through Yellowstone Park, I sat with other tourists on bleachers facing a dense growth of pine and spruce. Presently the animal which we had been waiting to see, the terror of the forests, the grizzly bear, strode out into the glare of the lights and

Chapter 12 A Few years ago, I was asked to answer this question on a radio programme: “What is the biggest lesson you have ever learned?”That was easy: by far the most vital lesson I have ever learned is the importance of what we think. If I knew what you think, I would know what

Chapter 11 As I write this sentence, I can look out of my window and see some dinosaur tracks in my garden-dinosaur tracks embedded in shale and stone. I purchased those dinosaur tracks from the Peabody Museum of Yale University; and I have a letter from the curator of the Peabody Museum, saying that those

Chapter 10 WOULD you like to know how to make money on the Stock Exchange? Well, so would a million other people—and if I knew the answer, this book would sell for a fabulous price. However, there’s one good idea that some successful operators use. This story was told to me by Charles Roberts, an

Chapter 9 When I was a little boy, I was playing with some of my friends in the attic of an old, abandoned log house in north-west Missouri. As I climbed down out of the attic, I rested my feet on a window-sill for a moment—and then jumped. I had a ring on my left

Chapter 8 As a CHILD, I grew up on a Missouri farm; and one day, while helping my mother pit cherries, I began to cry. My mother said: “Dale, what in the world are you crying about?”I blubbered: “I’m afraid I am going to be buried alive!”I was full of worries in those days. When

Chapter 7 Here is a dramatic story that I’ll probably remember as long as I live. It was told to me by Robert Moore, of 14 Highland Avenue, Maplewood, New Jersey.“I learned the biggest lesson of my life in March, 1945,” he said, “I learned it under 276 feet of water off the coast of

Chapter 6 I shall never forget the night, a few years ago, when Marion J. Douglas was a student in one of my initial classes. (I have not used his real name. He requested me, for personal reasons, not to reveal his identity.) But here is his real story as he told it before one

Chapter 5 If you are a Business-man, you are probably saying to yourself right now: “The title of this chapter is ridiculous. I have been running my business for nineteen years; and I certainly know the answers if anybody does. The idea of anybody trying to tell me how I can eliminate fifty per cent

Chapter 4 I keep six honest serving-men(They taught me all I knew):Their names are What and Why and WhenAnd How and Where and Who.-Rudyard Kipling Will the magic formula of Willis H. Carrier, described in Part One, Chapter 2, solve all worry problems? No, of course not. Then what is the answer? The answer is

Chepter 3 Business-men who do not know how to fight worry die young.–DR. Alexis Carrel.Some time ago, a neighbour rang my doorbell one evening and urged me and my family to be vaccinated against smallpox. He was only one of thousands of volunteers who were ringing doorbells all over New York City. Frightened people stood

Chapter 2 Would you like a quick, sure-fire recipe for handling worry situations—a technique you can start using right away, before you go any further in reading this book?Then let me tell you about the method worked out by Willis H. Carrier, the brilliant engineer who launched the air-conditioning industry, and who is now head