140 Quotes by Joshua Foer

What better way to try to begin to understand the nature and meaning of human memory than to investigate its absence?

A meaningful relationship between two people cannot sustain itself only in the present tense.

Our brains are obviously capable of astoundingly fast and complex calculations that happen subconsciously. We can't explain them because most of the time we hardly even realize they're happening.

As bad as we are at remembering names and phone numbers and word-for-word instructions from our colleagues, we have really exceptional visual and spatial memories.

When we first hear [a] word, we start putting these associational hooks into it that make it easier to fish it back out at some later date.

If you want to live a memorable life, you have to be the kind of person who remembers to remember.

What makes things memorable is that they are meaningful, significant, colorful.

Evolution has programmed our brains to find two things particularly interesting, and therefore memorable: jokes and sex - and especially, it seems, jokes about sex.

We've forgotten how to remember, and just as importantly, we've forgotten how to pay attention. So, instead of using your smartphone to jot down crucial notes, or Googling an elusive fact, use every opportunity to practice your memory skills. Memory is a muscle, to be exercised and improved.