Five Minute Biographies
Concise Life Lessons in Courage, Character, Perseverance, and SuccessBy Dale Carnegie
Length4h 50m
About this audiobook
In *Five Minute Biographies*, Dale Carnegie offers a gallery of concise life sketches designed to make history vivid, accessible, and personally instructive. Each biography distills the decisive experiences, qualities, setbacks, and achievements of a notable figure into a brief narrative whose emphasis falls less on exhaustive chronology than on character, perseverance, judgment, and the human consequences of ambition. Carnegie's conversational prose, dramatic anecdotes, and direct moral framing place the volume within the tradition of popular biography and inspirational nonfiction that flourished in the early twentieth century. The book's brevity is therefore not merely a convenience: it is a deliberate literary method, transforming biography into a series of memorable encounters and practical reflections. Carnegie's approach reflects his broader intellectual and professional commitments. As a lecturer, public speaker, and influential writer on communication and self-development, he understood the power of narrative to shape conduct more effectively than abstract instruction alone. His interest in the lives of exemplary individuals enabled him to connect historical achievement with everyday concerns—confidence, discipline, social intelligence, and resilience. The volume can consequently be read as an extension of his educational philosophy: readers learn not only who these figures were, but how their experiences might illuminate their own lives. Recommended for readers seeking an approachable introduction to biographical writing, the book is especially valuable for its economy, readability, and emphasis on usable insight. It invites reflection without demanding specialized historical knowledge, making it suitable for students, general readers, and anyone interested in the relationship between character and achievement.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.9 (1.4K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing, StoryGraph
GenreBiography and Memoir
Length4 hrs 50 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJan 1, 2026
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Little Known Facts About Well Known People
2THREE LITTLE WORDS—"CAN YOU COOK?" LED HIM TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH
3HE KNEW THE TELEPHONE NUMBERS OF MORE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS THAN ANY MAN IN HISTORY
4THE MISSIONARY WHO GOT ON THE WRONG TRAIN—AND BECAME A FAMOUS MAGICIAN
5TWO-CENT NEWSPAPERS BOUGHT HIM CASTLES IN SPAIN, CUCKOO CLOCKS, AND EGYPTIAN MUMMIES
Show all chaptersShow less
6AT 26 HE WAS A STAR; AT 53 A HAS-BEEN; AT 57 THE GREATEST ACTOR IN AMERICA
7THE PLAY THAT “WASN’T WORTH BOTHERING ABOUT” BECAME THE GREATEST DRAMA SINCE HAMLET
8A SMALL-TOWN INSULT MADE HIM THE GREATEST CRIMINAL LAWYER OF HIS TIME
9STICK HIS HEAD IN A LION'S MOUTH?—NOT WITHOUT A GAS-MASK!
10THE ILL-WIND THAT WRECKED A WHOLE TOWN—AND MAY YET SAVE THE WORLD FROM INSANITY
11HE STEPPED OUTSIDE FOR A FIGHT—WHILE HE WAS GONE HE BROKE THE BANK AND WON $10,000!
12HE WAS ASHAMED OF HAVING WRITTEN TWO OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST NOVELS
13THEY CAME AFTER HIM WITH GUNS AND T.N.T.—BUT HE STILL RAISED EASTER LILIES
14HIS PEASANT MOTHER WENT BAREFOOT TO PAY FOR HIS MUSIC LESSONS AND HE BECAME THE GREATEST SINGER IN THE WORLD
15THE DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND GIRL WHO WAS LIKENED TO NAPOLEON
16NEW YORK'S QUEEREST RICH FAMILY
17“HE SOUGHT THE SECRETS OF THE POLE—HE FOUND THE SECRETS OF GOD"
18THE SPINSTER WHO TURNED DOWN THE MARRIAGE PROPOSALS OF A THOUSAND MEN AND RODE A SNORTING, BUCKING HORSE
19THE MYSTERY MAN WHO MAY HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF SOMEONE YOU KNOW
20THE BALLPLAYER WHO LED A MILLION SOULS DOWN THE SAWDUST TRAIL TO SALVATION
21HE WAS SHOT IN THE BREAST; BUT HE KEPT RIGHT ON WITH HIS SPEECH
22HE WAS FACED WITH ONE OF THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITIES IN HISTORY; YET HE FAILED BECAUSE HE COULDN’T HANDLE PEOPLE
23THE “TOUGH GUY” WHO WENT THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL IN THREE MONTHS AND WROTE FIFTY-ONE BOOKS IN EIGHTEEN YEARS
24HE MADE MORE MILLIONAIRES THAN ANY MAN WHO EVER LIVED
25HE ONCE PICKED GRAPES TO PAY HIS RENT—TODAY HIS VOICE IS WORTH A FORTUNE
26HE GOT $49.49 A WORD—FOR A BOOK HE WAS SORRY HE EVER WROTE!
27WHAT THE MOVIES DIDN'T TELL ABOUT THE BENGAL LANCER
28ONCE DOOMED TO DIE FOR WANT OF TEN CENTS—HE LIVED TO TEAR UP $1,000,000.
29SHAKESPEARE HAD A SHOT-GUN WEDDING
30FIRED FROM FOUR NEWSPAPERS—HE WON THE NOBEL PRIZE AND THOUGHT IT WAS A GAG
31SHE TURNED HIM DOWN BECAUSE HE HAD “NO PROSPECTS”—HIS NAME WAS JOHN D.!
32HE WENT TO SCHOOL FOR ONLY FOUR YEARS—YET HE WROTE SEVENTEEN IMMORTAL NOVELS
33HE OFFERED A MILLION DOLLARS FOR A BRIDE
34SHE RESOLD HER MORNING PAPER AND SPENT HOURS IN THE JULY SUN SORTING RAGS, TO INCREASE HER FORTUNE OF $65,000,000.
35THE "PERFECT LOVER" WHO CHEWED TOBACCO, BIT HIS FINGER-NAILS, AND DRANK WINE OUT OF HUMAN SKULLS
36THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS WOMAN SCIENTIST ONCE SLEPT UNDER A CHAIR TO KEEP WARM
37HE REFUSED TO INVEST MONEY IN A NEWFANGLED CONTRAPTION CALLED THE TELEPHONE
38HE EARNED FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS A DAY, YET HE SEARCHED GARBAGE CANS FOR FOOD FOR HIS PET VULTURE
The Collected Works of Dale CarnegieDale Carnegie59h 32m4.5 (2.1K)$0.99 · $0.00
Die Kunst der RedeDale Carnegie20h 51m4.2 (4.1K)$1 · $0.00
PUBLIC SPEAKING: The Art Of Public Speaking, How To Speak In Public & The Manual of Public SpeakingDale Carnegie, J. Berg Esenwein, Henry Dickson, Orison Swett Marden33h 28m4.2 (117)$0.99 · $0.00
Lincoln - The Unknown (Unabridged) (Annotated)Dale Carnegie11h 10m4.3 (3K)$2 · $0.00
The Art Of Public Speaking (Unabridged) (Annotated)Dale Carnegie19h 27m4.0 (9.3K)$2 · $0.00
How To Make Friends And Influence People & How To Stop Worrying And Start LivingDale Carnegie22h 56m4.4 (13.4K)$1 · $0.00
How To Make Friends And Influence PeopleDale Carnegie23h 25m4.3 (1.4M)$1 · $0.00
How To Stop Worrying And Start LivingDale Carnegie13h 17m4.2 (149.2K)$1 · $0.00
كيفية تطوير الثقة بالنفسDale Carnegie8h 29m4.3 (13.9K)$16 · $0.00
How To Stop Worrying And Start Living & How To Make Friends And Influence People (Unabridged)Dale Carnegie22h 58m4.2 (230)$1 · $0.00
DALE CARNEGIE: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, The Art of Public Speaking, How to Win Friends and Influence People & Lincoln the Unknown (Annotated)Dale Carnegie50h 43m5.0 (1)$2 · $0.00
How To Stop Worrying And Start Living (Self-Improvement Series) (Annotated)Dale Carnegie13h 14m4.3 (109.8K)$2 · $0.00
Cómo suprimir las preocupaciones y disfrutar de la vidaDale Carnegie12h 48m4.3 (122.9K)$2 · $0.00
Sorgen loslassen und anfangen zu lebenDale Carnegie14h 14m$1 · $0.00
How To Win Friends And Influence PeopleDale Carnegie9h 59m4.2 (1.4M)$1 · $0.00
How To Make Friends And Influence PeopleDale Carnegie22h 1m4.3 (1.3M)$1 · $0.00
The Collected Works of Dale CarnegieDale Carnegie50h 33m4.5 (6.9K)$2 · $0.00
Hoe je vrienden maakt en mensen beinvloedtDale Carnegie10h 12m4.3 (5.1K)$15 · $0.00
Dale Carnegie – Gesammelte WerkeDale Carnegie67h 48m4.5 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
HOW TO STOP WORRYING & START LIVINGDale Carnegie13h 6m4.2 (146.5K)$1 · $0.00
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)John Muir10h 13m4.7 (1.1K)$0.99 · $0.00
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
A Bridge Not Too FarDeepak Ohri4h 55m4.8 (179)$15
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings With George Müller (The Complete Four-Volume Edition)George Müller43h 37m4.7 (304)$2 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
Scandal Between the Sheets & Stranded with the Tempting StrangerBrenda Jackson9h 22m4.8 (141)$24 · $0.00
The complete novelsJane Austen73h 18m4.6 (54.2K)$3.50 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
The Boys and MeMark Miller8h 32m4.8 (218)$23
The Life of Uncle Billy - Memoirs of General W. T. ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman39h 12m4.7 (1.1K)$0.99 · $0.00
The Complete Works of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare89h 26m4.6 (76K)$3.50 · $0.00
You may also like
The Twilight of the American EnlightenmentGeorge M. Marsden6h 24m4.1 (435)$20
The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald7h4.0 (6.4M)$1 · $0.00
Europe and the Faith "Sine auctoritate nulla vita" (Annotated)Hilaire Belloc6h 4m4.3 (478)$2 · $0.00
Gita Press and the Making of Hindu IndiaAkshaya Mukul20h 7m4.2 (1.6K)$21
The Story of Christianity, Vol. 2, Revised and UpdatedJusto L. González18h 26m4.4 (6K)$30
The Existence and Attributes of God (Vol. 1&2)Stephen Charnock69h 43m4.7 (2.8K)$2 · $0.00
The Christian MindHarry Blamires5h 58m4.1 (418)$14 · $0.00
The Complete Works (Annotated)Frederick Douglass63h 41m4.5 (271)$2 · $0.00
POOR FOLK & OTHER TALESFyodor Dostoyevsky22h 24m4.0 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
Misogynoir TransformedMoya Bailey9h 13m4.4 (307)$20 · $0.00
Observations on an Anonymous Pamphlet Distributed in Lowestoft and Its NeighbourhoodFrancis Cunningham50m$2 · $0.00
The Cup of Trembling, and Other StoriesMary Hallock Foote5h 11m3.3 (14)$2 · $0.00
History of the Jews in Russia and Poland (Vol. 1-3)Simon Dubnow35h 38m4.2 (50)$2 · $0.00
Jules Pascin: Art and intrigueAlexandre Dupouy1h 8m3.3 (12)$13 · $0.00
Muslim ApologeticsJohn Warwick Montgomery, John Warwick Montgomery42m$3 · $0.00
Damsel in DistressedDominique Mielle7h 19m3.9 (441)$17 · $0.00
Nicolo Paganini: His Life and Work (Annotated)Stephen S. Stratton4h 46m4.4 (23)$2 · $0.00
St. Augustine in 90 MinutesPaul Strathern1h 14m3.5 (1.1K)$7
Fichte (Annotated)Robert Adamson7h 28m$0.99 · $0.00
The Collected WorksW.E.B. Du Bois35h 35m4.6 (53)$2 · $0.00