Quotes from Harry Lorayne

You Can Remember Any New Piece of Information if It Is Associated to Something You Already Know or Remember.

Many times during your life you've heard or seen something that caused you to snap your fingers and say, "Oh, that reminds me.…" And, usually, the thing that reminded you of something had nothing to do with what it reminded you of. Somewhere back in your mind an absurd or random association had been made.

In Order to Remember Any New Piece of Information, It Must Be Associated to Something You Already Know or Remember in Some Ridiculous Way.

you've decided on an outstanding feature, and you already had a Substitute Word for its owner's name. Now we come to step three—you associate the Substitute Word to the outstanding feature. If you do this properly, it will almost be like having the person's name written on his face!

Even if step three didn't work (which it does), just applying steps one and two must improve your memory for names and faces, because you've done what most people don't do—you've paid attention; you've listened and looked.

step three that gives purpose to steps one and two—it locks the name and face together for you. Form a ridiculous association between your Substitute Word and the outstanding feature of the face; that's all.

you've just met Mr. Crane. A picture of a large crane, as used by construction workers, comes to mind; or perhaps the storklike bird. You've looked at his face and decided that his high forehead is the outstanding feature. You look at that forehead, and really picture many large cranes flying out of it; or, you can see them attacking that high forehead! Or perhaps the entire forehead is one gigantic crane.

Actually, you can't think without seeing pictures. Aristotle said it, centuries ago—one of his books opened with this sentence: "It is impossible even to think without a mental picture.

What you've learned in the preceding chapter is a tiny part of the Link system of memory. We call it the "Link" system because what you're doing when you apply it is linking one item to another, forming the links of a memory chain. One item must lead you to the next, if you're associating properly.

One of the fundamentals of a trained memory is what we call Original Awareness. Anything of which you are Originally Aware cannot be forgotten. And, applying our systems of association will force Original Awareness. Observation is essential to Original Awareness—anything you wish to remember must first be observed.

You are absentminded when your mind is absent; when you perform actions unconsciously, without thinking. We've discussed the difference between seeing and observing—we see with our eyes, but we observe with our minds. If your mind is "absent" when performing an action, there can be no observation; more important, there can be no Original Awareness.

Since association forces Original Awareness—and since being Originally Aware is the same as having something register in your mind in the first place, at the moment it occurs—then forming an instant association must solve the problem of absentmindedness.