Quotes About Memory

She didn't want to forget how deeply she had loved him, how important it had been to her; she felt as if to discard the memory would be a betrayal of her younger self.

Since being back in London everything seemed greyer, but clearer. She couldn't explain it. The strangest thing was she couldn't recall her New York self. She wanted that part of herself back, but she couldn't remember what it was like to be that Elle. She would catch a whiff of it, like the snatch of a song that still won't lead you to the chorus, and then it would be gone.

Then would come the remembering again, and the knife would be lost again while she (Gertie) sat helplessly fumbling, once more far from the man in the wood, tossed and whirled about as she was in the ringing, roaring fury." The Dollmaker, Harriette Arnow, p 418

There are times when forgetting can be just as important as remembering — and even more difficult.

You cannot possibly remember anything you do not observe; and it is extremely difficult to observe or remember anything that you do not want to remember, or that you are not interested in remembering.

you would like to remember names and faces, there are three steps involved; the first step takes care of the name, the second takes care of the face, and the third locks the two of them together. What you have to do is associate the name to the face in some ridiculous way.

Ordinarily, there'd be no way to picture a name like Bentavagnia (pronounced bent-a-vane-ya). But you can picture, say, a bent weather vane. And bent vane has to remind you of Bentavagnia! The Substitute Word system will work beautifully to help you remember names. Applying it will force you to listen to, pay attention to, concentrate on that name—to be Originally Aware of

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.

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.

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.

It's a fish eagle, Jock.' 'It sounds so sad.' He nodded. 'It is. They mate for life and if their mate dies they never take another. That's the sound they make when they've lost their mate.' It was something I will never forget. Even now, years later, when I watch the sun go down, I still hear it, an echo from my past.

Die Frage, was nun eigentlich war zwischen ihnen, würden sie später erörtern, wenn all die Tage in ihrer Erinnerung zu einem einzigen, für immer unvergeßlichen Tag zusammengeflossen sein würden. Auch die Griechen, wußte Onno, die die Grundlage für die westliche Kultur gelegt hatten, besaßen kein Wort für "Kultur". Die Wörter entstanden erst, wenn die Sache verschwunden war.

De vraag, wat dat was tussen hen, zouden zij pas later bespreken - toen het er niet meer was, toen al die dagen in hun herinnering ineengevloeid waren tot een eeuwig-onvergetelijke dag. Ook de grieken, wist hij, die de grondslag hadden gelegd van de westerse cultuur, bezaten geen woord voor cultuur. De woorden kwamen pas als de zaak was verdwenen.

In het ene landschap was ik het vorige vergeten, zoals je op straat onafgebroken gezichten ziet, die je onafgebroken vergeet

Alles zal vergeten worden en ten slotte verdwijnen en dan nooit gebeurd zijn. En het is deze gedachte, die hem plotseling de verdorven kracht geef om te doen wat hem te doen staat.

Van het bed keek zij hem aan en zei na een tijdje: 'De oorlog is pas afgelopen, wanneer de laatste die hem mee heeft gemaakt, is gestorven.

Anton had the feeling that by doing something which was within his power but which he could not quite think of, he could undo everything and return to the way they had been before, sitting around the table playing a game. It was as if he had forgotten a name remebered a hundred times before and now on the tip of his tongue, but the harder he tried to recall it, the more elusive it became.

Besides, whoever keeps the future in front of him and the past at his back is doing something else that's hard to imagine. For the image implies that events somehow already exist in the future, reach the present at a determined moment, and finally come to rest in the past. But nothing exists in the future; it is empty; one might die at any minute. Therefore such a person has his face toward the void, whereas it is the past behind him that is visible, stored in the memory.

Q didn't believe, as some people did, that the squirrels would remember where they buried each walnut. He

Caudell hadn't touched a firearm since he left the army. His hands, he discovered, still knew what to do. The smell of oil and metal and powder that came from the rifle, the sensuously mechanical glide of the charging handle as he pushed it back to expose the open chamber, made him see the army's old Virginia campground almost as vividly as he did the courthouse where he stood. By the murmurs that rose from his comrades, they also had memories flooding back.