2,914 Quotes About Memory

They say the drowning man relives his life as he drowns. Well, I was not drowning in water, but I was drowning in West. I drowned westward through the hot brass days and black velvet nights. It took me seventy-eight hours to drown. For my body to sink down to the very bottom of West and lie in the motionless ooze of History, naked on a hotel bed in Long Beach, California.

I've been here in Richmond for six years and I still don't get it. To me, having the principal Richmond monuments dedicated to the Lost Cause is like saying we're dedicated to no hope, no future. It's like having a monument to unrequited love.

There's a certain freshness and innocence in people who have always lived in one place and can count on witnesses to their passage through the world. In contrast, those of us who have moved on many times develop tough skin out of necessity. Since we lack roots or corroboration of who we are, we must put our trust in memory to give continuity to our lives...but memory is always cloudy, we can't trust it.

The techniques that help us accurately lock down useful types of information can override the stories we tell about ourselves, leading to incorruptible recall of simple things that set you free—on demand. Some of the best is both ancient and new every time you use it, but always the same.

This book differs from other memory books because I’ve come to believe memory training and meditation go hand in hand. By taking up a memory training practice, you may well receive many of the same benefits meditation can bring. My discussion differs from many meditation books, as well, because it offers instruction and personal stories that contextualize the techniques.

No matter what term you use for the technique, relief from mental distress is made possible because this mental tool helps us remember and rapidly access positive affirmations and memories quickly and accurately, even during times of distress. These higher quality memories can help dissolve negative ones, both immediately and for the long term.

It's all in the past, except every time you start talking about it, it stops being in the past, and starts being in the present again.

I also often refer to the “Magnetic Memory Method”, which is the systematic, 21st-century approach I developed to memorizing foreign language vocabulary, dreams, names, music, poetry and much more, in ways that are easy, elegant, effective and fun.

Become the Storm,” refers to Sam Harris’s point that you are not influenced by the storms of external circumstances so much as “you are the storm.” I take this further by arguing that you need to do more than recognize the wisdom of Harris’ insight—you need to “become the storm.” Becoming the storm and staging the dual games of memory and mindfulness practice will help you remain in a watchful state of becoming.