Memory: How to Develop, Train, and Use ItAtkinson, William Walker
Science
Memory: How to Develop, Train, and Use It
Atkinson, William Walker
Memory
Thurlow Weed, a well-known politician of the last century, testifies to
the efficacy of the above mentioned method, in his "Memoirs." His plan
was slightly different from that mentioned by us, but you will at once
see that it involves the same principles--the same psychology. Mr. Weed
says: "Some of my friends used to think that I was 'cut out' for a
politician, but I saw at once a fatal weakness. My memory was a sieve. I
could remember nothing. Dates, names, appointments, faces--everything
escaped me. I said to my wife, 'Catherine, I shall never make a
successful politician, for I cannot remember, and that is a prime
necessity of politicians. A politician who sees a man once should
remember him forever.' My wife told me that I must train my memory. So
when I came home that night I sat down alone and spent fifteen minutes
trying silently to recall with accuracy the principal events of the day.
I could remember but little at first--now I remember that I could not
then recall what I had for breakfast. After a few days' practice I found
I could recall more. Events came back to me more minutely, more
accurately, and more vividly than at first. After a fortnight or so of
this, Catherine said 'why don't you relate to me the events of the day
instead of recalling them to yourself? It would be interesting and my
interest in it would be a stimulus to you.' Having great respect for my
wife's opinion, I began a habit of oral confession, as it were, which
was continued for almost fifty years. Every night, the last thing before
retiring, I told her everything I could remember that had happened to
me, or about me, during the day. I generally recalled the very dishes I
had for breakfast, dinner and tea; the people I had seen, and what they
had said; the editorials I had written for my paper, giving her a brief
abstract of them; I mentioned all the letters I had seen and received,
and the very language used, as nearly as possible; when I had walked or
ridden--I told her everything that had come within my observation. I
found that I could say my lessons better and better every year, and
instead of the practice growing irksome, it became a pleasure to go over
again the events of the day. I am indebted to this discipline for a
memory of unusual tenacity, and I recommend the practice to all who wish
to store up facts, or expect to have much to do with influencing men."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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