If You are Wrong, Admit it

- Dale Carnegie (1888-1955)

Dale Carnegie was an American writer, lecturer and scholar in Salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking & interpersonal skills. He was born in America. His prescription for influencing people & winning them over is Swift and practical. In this present essay, Carnegie put his prescription about wrong & told the rule, "If you are wrong admit it quickly & emphatically." In this essay, the writer wants to prove that if we want to change the behaviour of the other, we should do it by a simple behavioural change in ourselves. His most popular book was How to Win Friends and Influence people.

Summary

In this essay, the writer explains the incident which happened to him. one morning in the forest park which was very near to his house. He & his bulldog 'Rex' went running. He left his dog without a leash & muzzle in the park. And suddenly a mounted policeman comes there & show his authority to the writer. The policemen said to the writer, 'Don't you know that letting the dog without leash & muzzle in the park is against the law?' The author replied that he knew that but his dog do not harm any one. But the mounted policeman told to the author that the dog might kill a squirrel or bite a child & he let him off for the time but orderd him, 'don't come here without leash & muzzle for the dog.'The author promised to obey it.
When the author once again caught by the policemen with the Rex without leash & muzzle, suddenly the author admit his mistake & feel guilty to himself. And the policeman responded him softly and told that the author should let his dog run over the hill where he cant see them. At that time the policeman being human & so kind,showing his mercy attitude because the author accept his mistakes & admit it. He admitted that the policeman was absolutely right &he was wrong;he admitted it quickly & enthuiastically. The author explained the technique of the commercial artist Ferdinand E.
Warren' to win the good will of petulant, scolding buyer of art. He said that one art director was alway s delighted in a finding fault with some little things. Ferdinand warren who is a commercial artist left his office in disgust because he did not like his way of criticism on someone, when he finished his work & left the job. The art director called him & call back him in his office to show the mistake in his drawing. when ferdinand saw the small mistake, he decided to apply the techinque of self-criticism on him and he immediately accept his mistake & admit it & promise him that he had been doing this drawing for him again, better.
And the impulse of his admitting the mistake was that the art director defend him & told him that it was not a serious mistake but he want only slight changes in this. He praised his drawing & assured him that it hadnt cost him. After then the art director took him for lunch & the fight had been finished.
The author give one more example from the history records about Robert E. Lee and Picketts charge at Gettysburg in the Picketts charge which was more brilliant & picturesque attack because of his devoted troops & their unity. Robert lee become failure in his battle. Pickett's union confederacy jauntily rode off towards the battlefield. They cheered to cach other. His troops were attacked on lee's commander & he had failed. He sent his resignation to his president of confederacy to appoint young & abler man. At that time lee admit his failure & he confessed this infront of picket's troops.
If he want he blame the disastrous failure on someone else because some of his commander had not arrived in time to support him in attack & he became failure. But he accept the responsibility for his team. & understand the factors that led him to failure. He took the courage to accept the truth & took blame on himself. He admit his mistake, that he alone is responsible for this failure in this battlefield. And in all history few peoples had the courage it to admit. Elbert Hubbard was a original author who stir up a nation, with his skill on nandling people frequently he turned enemies into friends.
In this way, from the above examples the author suggest us that when we are right we try to win people by tactfully and when we are wrong, we must admit our mistake quickly with enthusiasm if we are honest wiih ourselves. It is a lot of fun in admitting the mistake with others than trying to defend ourself. self criticism is the best way to stop the crisis.

Essay-type question

Q What did the writer suggest us from the prose 'If you are wrong, admit it'.

Ans :- If you are wrong, admit it' is a very fine piece of composition written by Dale carnegie. He was an American writer, Lecturer, a scholar in salesmanship, public speaking, interpersonal skills. In this essay the writer present the rule that, If you are wrong , admit it quickly and emphatically. Because, if we want to change other persons behaviour, we can do it by simple behavioural change in ourself.
The writer explains the incident in the forest park, when he went there with his Boston bulldog, 'Rex'. He left his dog run loosely in the park without leash and muzzle and suddenly he encounter the mounted policeman in the park. The policeman reprimended him that, run the dog loosley in the park is against the law, and may be the dog kill the squirel may be the dog bite the child in the park. The policeman warned him and left him for the time. But the second time the writer found to the policeman with 'Rex' without leash and muzzle in the park. At that time the writer use the technique of self criticizm. Suddenly the writer admit the mistake and impact of it was that, the policemen show his mercy attitude and responded him softly.
The writer thought that there is nothing harm in admitting our mistake. The writer introduce us the example of Ferdinand E- Warren, who used the same technique as like the writer. Ferdinand E. Warren was a commercial artist gives the example of the behaviour of art director who was always delighted to find fault in some little things. The faults were minor but he did not like the way of directly attack on someone. When Ferdinand left his job, the art director call him and found fault in his drawing at that time Ferdinand use the technique of self criticize and he quickly admit the mistake. Ferdinand promise to him that once again he draw the picture for him.
The result of this was that the art director start to defend him and told that it was a minor mistake and assured him to do not worried about it. The writer gives one more example from the history record about 'Robert E.Lee' and 'Pickett's charge' at Gettysburg. In pickett's charge which was more brilliant and picturesque, Robert Lee became failure and he confessed his failure infront of pickett. He admit that he alone is responsible for this failure in the battlefield. But the reality was that he become failure because some of his commanders had not arrived in time to support him. If he want he could blame on someone else of his failure but he can't do it, Because, he accept the responsibility for his team and understand the factors that lead him to failure. He took the courage to accept the truth and he blamed himself for the failure.
Elbert Hubbard was also like the writer who show such type of courage. With his skill of handling people frequently he turned his enemies in to his friends. In this way, the writer suggest us that, 'by fighting we never get enough, but by yielding we get more, than we expect.' So, thus writer suggest us that, 'If we are wrong admit it equickly pue emphatically with enthusiasm.'

Q. Write a short note on the following. The writer and his Boston Bull dog

1. OR The Policeman's mercy attitude towards writer.

Ans :- The essay If you are wrong, Admit it,' is written by Dale Carnegie who was an American writer, lecturer and a scholar. In this essay the writer suggest us that, 'If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically' Because, if we want to change in other person's behaviour, we can do it by simple behavioural change in ourself. Here, the writer express his incident with his boston bulldog and the policeman who show his mercy attitude towards him. The writer use the rule, 'Ifyou are wrong, admit it', and the technque of self-criticizm. One day writer went to the forest park which was very near to his home, with his little Boston bulldog, 'Rex'. This park was always empty, rarely comes anyone in that park. so the writer and his dog Rex went for running in the park without leash and muzzle, which was against the law. They encounter the policeman in the park and he wamed to the writer that letting the dog run loosely in the part without a muzzle and leash was against the law. The dog might kill a squirral or bite a child in the park. He reprimanded to the writer that he let him off for this time, but if he catch him with this dog again in this park without a muzzle and a leash then he will show his authority.
The writer promise and obey it for few times. The writer and his dog Rex didn't like the muzzle and leash, so they decided to take a chance and they run loosely in the park without leash and muzzle. And for the second time the writer encounter the policeman and remember the incident. Before the policeman started to talking anything the writer admit that he made the mistake and he was guilty for this. The impact of that was the policeman responded him in a soft tone and he allow him to run over the hill where he can't saw him and he suggest to forget all about that.
In this way, using the technique of admitting the mistake quickly and enthuiastically the policeman become human to understand the imporiance of feeling and show the mercy attitude towards the writer.

2. Ferdinand E. Warrens experience of self- criticizing.

Ans. Ferdinand warren was making drawing for advertising and publishing purposes and he think that it may be precise and very exact. Some art editors demand that their work must be executed immediately, and in that cases, some slight error is occured in the work.
Ferdinand E-warren was a commercial artist, used his Here, warren told the experience with the art director who was always delighted to find fault with some little things. Ferdinand warren who is a commercial artist left his office in disgust because he did not like his way of criticism on someone.
When he finished his work and left the job of this art director, he called him in his office to show the minor mistake in his drawing when ferdinand saw the small mistake, he use to applv ihe technique of self-criticism on him and he immediately accept his mistake and promise him that he had been doing this drawing again for him. And the impulse of his admitting the mistake that the art director defend him and told him that it was not a serious mistake but he want only slight changes in this. He praised his drawing and assured him that it hadr't cost him. This method of criticizing himselfend the fight and the art director take him for lunch. And he give him a check and another commission.

3. Robert E. lee's experience of the failure of pickett's charge at Gettysburg.

Ans:- In the essay, 'If you are wrong, dmit it' the writer express the fact that if we want to change the behav iour of others, we can do it by simple behavioural changes in ourselves The writer put down the rule, 'If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
The writer gives the example of Robert E. Lee who become failure in pickett's charge at Gettysburg and he blamed himself for the failure. Here, he take his responsibility as the captain of the team and take the responsibility of his failure on himself. Pickett's charge at Gettysburg was the most brilliant and picturesque attack.
Pickett himself was picturesque.His hair was so long and his auburn locks almost touched his shoulders like Napoleon. His devoted troops cheered him as he went off merriely toward the union lines, with his rakish cap set on his right ear. They cheered and followed him, with banners flying and the unity gleaming in the sun. It was gallant sight. Pickett's troops run forward through the orchard and corn-field, across a meadow, and over a ravine. suddenly the union infantry rose from behind the stone wall on cemetery Ridge where they had been hiding, and fired volley after volley in to pickett's defenceless troops, pickett's charge was brilliant and heroic and Lee had failed.
Robert Lee was so saddened, so shocked and sent his resignation to the president of the confederacy, jefferson Davis. If Lee had wanted to blame the disastrous failure of pickett's charge on someone else, he could have found a score of resons. some of his division commanders had failed him. The cavalry hadn't arrived in time to support the infantry attack. But he didn't blame others and he confessed that, "All this has been my fault, I alone have lost this battle."
Robert Lee admit his mistake, and accept the responsibility for his team and understand the factors that led him to failure. He takes the courage to accept the truth and blame himself for the failure. It isa lot of fun in admitting the mistake with others than trying to defend ourself. Self-criticism is the best way to stop the crisis.

Reference to context.

1) "Well, a little dog like that isn't going to

harm anybody, the policeman remonstrated".

Ans:- Reference:-

The above sentence occurs in the essay, 'If You Are Wrong, Admit It', written by Dale Carnegie. In this essay the writer suggests us, if you are wrong, admit is quickly and emphatically to control the situation.

Context:-

In the essay, the writer explain his experience, when he was going in the forest park with his Boston bulldog, Rex, for walking. The writer and his dog was run in the park where he encounter a Policeman. The writer take his dog along with him without leash or a muzzle which is against law. Because the dog may be bite a child or kill a squirrel. But the writer and his dog run loosely in the park. So, the policemen show his authority and wamed him and told that, he will let him off for this time but next time if he will found again there with his dog without leash and muzzle he will punished him. The writer obey the policeman's order for many times, But, he decided to take a chance and one day he went into the park with the Rex, without leash and muzzle and he again encounter the policeman infront of him. At that time, before the Policeman say something the writer admit his mistake and he blame himself for the incident.

The impact of the writer's admitting the mistake, the policeman become kind and he show his mercy attitude towards the writer. The policeman suggest the writer that he just let him run over the hill there where he can't see him and they will forget all about it.

Conclusion :-

In this way the, writer admit his mistake before the policeman say something. And instead of being angry on the writer the policeman become kind and show his mercy attitude and told to the writer that the little dog like that has not harm anybody there. The policeman allow the writer run in the park with his dog without leash and muzzle over the hill, where he can't see him.

2) 'No! No !' he protested. 'I wouldn't think of putting you to all that trouble !".

Ans:- Reference:-

The above sentence occurs in the essay 'If you Are Wrong, Admit it', by Dale carneige. In this essay the writer told an experience of a commercial artist Ferdinand E- Warren and his technique of self criticizing.

Context:-

In the essay,"If you are wrong, Admit it" the writer told an experience of a commercial artist who, used his technique of self criticism to win the good will of a petulant, scolding buyer of art. He was working under art director who was always delighted to find fault with some littel things. One day warren left his office, not because of his criticism but because of his method of attack. He resign the job, but the art editor called him back to office immediately. He told something was wrong. Warren understand now he was finding some fault in his drawing. But instead of arguing with the art director warren used the technique of self-criticism and admit that he had made a mistake and he had been ready to do drawings again for him. And the impact of his self critism was he immediately defend him and told him that this was a little mistake and there was no need to putting him all that trouble. The art director praised his work, and assured him that he wanted only a minor change in that and this slight error hadn't cost his firm and any money. After then he ended the conflict by taking him to lunch and he gave him a check and another commission.

Conclusion :-

Warren's technique of self- criticism took all the fight out of him. In this way warren handle the situation and immediately they admit their mistake and the impact of that was happended that the art-director defend him and praised his work and give him a check and some another commission and end the conflict happily. Self criticism is the best way to solve the conflict.

3) "All this has been may fault", he confessed.'I and I alone have lost this battle.'

Ans :-Reference :-

The above sentence occures in the essay If you are Wrong, Admit It.' writen by Dale carneige. In this essay the writer told us the principle, If, You are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically

Context:-

In the essay the writer tells us the fact that if we want to change the behaviour of others we can do it by simple behavioural changes in ourselves. Here, the writer gives the example from the history records about Robert E. Lee who blamed himself and only himselffor the failure of pickett's charge at Gettysburg. Pickett's charge was undoubtedly the most brilliant and picturesque attack pickett's troops swept forward at an easy trot, orchard and corn-field, across a meadow, and over a ravine. Suddenly the Union infantry rose from behind the stone wall on cemetery Ridge where they had been hiding, and fired. Volley after volley into pickett's defenceless troops. The pickett's troops leading forward in the final plunge, ran forward, vaulted over the stone wall bayoneted their enemies, smashed skulls with clubbed muskets, and planted the battle- flag of south on cemetery Ridge.

Pickett's charge was a brilliant and heroic at the end. Robert Lee had failed. He was so saddened, so shocked and sent his resignation to the president of the confederacy to appoint another younger and able man. If Lee had wanted, he blame the disastrous failure of pickett's charge on someone else and he found a score of reasons. Some of his division commanders had failed him. The cavalry hadn't arrived in time to support him. But Lee was a noble man he didnot blame others for the failure but he accept the responsibility of his team. And he blame only himself for the failure.

Conclusion:-

Rebert E. Lee was a noble man. If he want he blames others for the disastrous failure of pickett's charge but he take the responsibility ofhis team as a captain. And he blame only himself for the failure. He confessed all this had been his fault. He alone had lost this battle.