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[SethCreiyd]

I got my brother and two of my friends to play just by playing in front of them and telling them what was going on.  Anyone interested in DF's sort of  "deep detail" will be quickly convinced to play as long as they can get past the graphics.  And if they can't, you can try and hook them up with a graphics pack.  Tell them it's like reading the Matrix code; that after a time you don't even see the code, you just see Dog, Door, Goblin...

Dwarf Fortress is difficult to summarize, so you may want to link them to the wiki.  If they are the type that likes to look forward, link them to the development log.  If they are fond of message boards, steer them to this forum.

Or something else entirely.  How did you learn to play?

[Nivim]

 I learned to play by trying it once, leaving for a month, then trying it again with wiki. I've noticed a lot of people that are introduced to it leave it for some time, then return when the moment is right. I should probably check on one of my friends in that regard, it's getting near his return time...

[r3d5kull]

Tell them to grab a seat and prepare to join us in the depths of Hell... just what DF is made for

[Muz]

IMHO.. Boatmurdered. Give them the original link. It's well written enough to give people a grasp of what everything is and sounds cool. DF's not too hard to learn by yourself and the wiki.

[NRN_R_Sumo1]

have them read boat murdered, its probably the best way usually.

other than that, flood a world with water, then dump magma all over it, and show them how awesome that experience is.

OR OR. Fill up a carved box of water with water, at the top of a magma pipe, then drop it inside and show them a volcanic explosion.

[Aklyon]

The video tutorials.

But not before making them read Boatmurdered!

and Nist Akath!(if it is ever consolated into something that isn't spread throughout 150+ forum pages, that is)

[Ampersand]

I think the best way to teach the game is to do it via having pre-fabricated fortresses, and giving the player a simple project with a set of small instructions on how to accomplish that project. Several pre-packaged fortresses could be made to order for various basic things, like building farms, using pumps, or organizing industry.

[The Dog Delusion]

Tinypirates "THE UTTER NEWBY PLAY-ALONG TUTORIAL" is great, in my opinion. If your friends want to learn recommend it to them. It has an easy map to play with, and teaches you the basics.

This, this, and this.

and after they're able to play through it to the end, alter the init file to disable the graphics, and have them do it all over again 

After that, they should be more than comfortable with the whole deal.