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MEMORY
* * * * *
THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY BOOKS
By William Walker Atkinson
In the past few years a widespread mental and spiritual awakening has
taken place among the people of this country. And this new awakening has
been very aptly called THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY MOVEMENT, because it has to do
with the development and expression of the mind, or soul, of both the
individual and the nation.
YOUR MIND AND HOW TO USE IT.
THE MASTERY OF BEING.
MEMORY: HOW TO DEVELOP, TRAIN AND USE IT.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SALESMANSHIP.
Although each book stands alone as an authority on the subject treated,
yet one idea runs through the series binding them together to make a
complete whole.
Uniform Postpaid Price of Each Volume is $1.60.
NEW THOUGHT: ITS HISTORY AND PRINCIPLES
This is Mr. Atkinson's complete statement of the history and principles
of the great New Thought movement of which the new psychology is a
phase. This volume is bound in artistic paper cover, 36 pages, price
28c. postpaid.
HUMAN EFFICIENCY BOOKS
By Elizabeth Towne
THE LIFE POWER AND HOW TO USE IT Price $1.60.
FIFTEEN LESSONS IN NEW THOUGHT, (formerly Lessons in Living). Price
$1.60.
PRACTICAL METHODS FOR SELF-DEVELOPMENT: SPIRITUAL, MENTAL, PHYSICAL.
Price $1.60.
EXPERIENCES IN SELF-HEALING. Price, 55c.
JUST HOW TO WAKE THE SOLAR PLEXUS. Price 28c.
HOW TO TRAIN CHILDREN AND PARENTS. Price 28c.
These are among the most popular of Mrs. Towne's books. Any or all sent
postpaid on receipt of price.
The Elizabeth Towne Company, Holyoke, Mass.
* * * * *
MEMORY
How to Develop, Train and Use It
by
WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON
L. N. Fowler & Company
7, Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus
London, E.C., England
1919
The Elizabeth Towne Co.
Holyoke, Mass.
Copyright 1912
By
Elizabeth Towne
CONTENTS
I. Memory: Its Importance 7
II. Cultivation of the Memory 17
III. Celebrated Cases of Memory 27
IV. Memory Systems 37
V. The Subconscious Record-File 48
VI. Attention 58
VII. Association 70
VIII. Phases of Memory 81
IX. Training the Eye 90
X. Training the Ear 101
XI. How to Remember Names 111
XII. How to Remember Faces 121
XIII. How to Remember Places 130
XIV. How to Remember Numbers 140
XV. How to Remember Music 152
XVI. How to Remember Occurrences 160
XVII. How to Remember Facts 168
XVIII. How to Remember Words, etc. 178
XIX. How to Remember Books, Plays,
Tales, etc. 186
XX. General Instructions 197
CHAPTER I.
MEMORY: ITS IMPORTANCE.
It needs very little argument to convince the average thinking person of
the great importance of memory, although even then very few begin to
realize just how important is the function of the mind that has to do
with the retention of mental impressions. The first thought of the
average person when he is asked to consider the importance of memory, is
its use in the affairs of every-day life, along developed and cultivated
lines, as contrasted with the lesser degrees of its development. In
short, one generally thinks of memory in its phase of "a good memory" as
contrasted with the opposite phase of "a poor memory." But there is a
much broader and fuller meaning of the term than that of even this
important phase.
It is true that the success of the individual in his every-day business,
profession, trade or other occupation depends very materially upon the
possession of a good memory. His value in any walk in life depends to a
great extent upon the degree of memory he may have developed. His memory
of faces, names, facts, events, circumstances and other things
concerning his every-day work is the measure of his ability to
accomplish his task. And in the social intercourse of men and women, the
possession of a retentive memory, well stocked with available facts,
renders its possessor a desirable member of society. And in the higher
activities of thought, the memory comes as an invaluable aid to the
individual in marshalling the bits and sections of knowledge he may have
acquired, and passing them in review before his cognitive
faculties--thus does the soul review its mental possessions. As
Alexander Smith has said: "A man's real possession is his memory; in
nothing else is he rich; in nothing else is he poor." Richter has said:
"Memory is the only paradise from which we cannot be driven away. Grant
but memory to us, and we can lose nothing by death." Lactantius says:
"Memory tempers prosperity, mitigates adversity, controls youth, and
delights old age."
But even the above phases of memory represent but a small segment of its
complete circle. Memory is more than "a good memory"--it is the means
whereby we perform the largest share of our mental work. As Bacon has
said: "All knowledge is but remembrance." And Emerson: "Memory is a
primary and fundamental faculty, without which none other can work: the
cement, the bitumen, the matrix in which the other faculties are
embedded. Without it all life and thought were an unrelated succession."
And Burke: "There is no faculty of the mind which can bring its energy
into effect unless the memory be stored with ideas for it to look upon."
And Basile: "Memory is the cabinet of imagination, the treasury of
reason, the registry of conscience, and the council chamber of thought."
Kant pronounced memory to be "the most wonderful of the faculties." Kay,
one of the best authorities on the subject has said, regarding it:
"Unless the mind possessed the power of treasuring up and recalling its
past experiences, no knowledge of any kind could be acquired. If every
sensation, thought, or emotion passed entirely from the mind the moment
it ceased to be present, then it would be as if it had not been; and it
could not be recognized or named should it happen to return. Such an one
would not only be without knowledge,--without experience gathered from
the past,--but without purpose, aim, or plan regarding the future, for
these imply knowledge and require memory. Even voluntary motion, or
motion for a purpose, could have no existence without memory, for memory
is involved in every purpose. Not only the learning of the scholar, but
the inspiration of the poet, the genius of the painter, the heroism of
the warrior, all depend upon memory. Nay, even consciousness itself
could have no existence without memory for every act of consciousness
involves a change from a past state to a present, and did the past state
vanish the moment it was past, there could be no consciousness of
change. Memory, therefore, may be said to be involved in all conscious
existence--a property of every conscious being!"
In the building of character and individuality, the memory plays an
important part, for upon the strength of the impressions received, and
the firmness with which they are retained, depends the fibre of
character and individuality. Our experiences are indeed the stepping
stones to greater attainments, and at the same time our guides and
protectors from danger. If the memory serves us well in this respect we
are saved the pain of repeating the mistakes of the past, and may also
profit by remembering and thus avoiding the mistakes of others. As
Beattie says: "When memory is preternaturally defective, experience and
knowledge will be deficient in proportion, and imprudent conduct and
absurd opinion are the necessary consequence." Bain says: "A character
retaining a feeble hold of bitter experience, or genuine delight, and
unable to revive afterwards the impression of the time is in reality the
victim of an intellectual weakness under the guise of a moral weakness.
To have constantly before us an estimate of the things that affect us,
true to the reality, is one precious condition for having our will
always stimulated with an accurate reference to our happiness. The
thoroughly educated man, in this respect, is he that can carry with him
at all times the exact estimate of what he has enjoyed or suffered from
every object that has ever affected him, and in case of encounter can
present to the enemy as strong a front as if he were under the genuine
impression. A full and accurate memory, for pleasure or for pain, is the
intellectual basis both of prudence as regards self, and sympathy as
regards others."
So, we see that the cultivation of the memory is far more than the
cultivation and development of a single mental faculty--it is the
cultivation and development of our entire mental being--the development
of our _selves_.
To many persons the words memory, recollection, and remembrance, have
the same meaning, but there is a great difference in the exact shade of
meaning of each term. The student of this book should make the
distinction between the terms, for by so doing he will be better able to
grasp the various points of advice and instruction herein given. Let us
examine these terms.
Locke in his celebrated work, the "Essay Concerning Human
Understanding" has clearly stated the difference between the meaning of
these several terms. He says: "Memory is the power to revive again in
our minds those ideas which after imprinting, have disappeared, or have
been laid aside out of sight--when an idea again recurs without the
operation of the like object on the external sensory, it is
_remembrance_; if it be sought after by the mind, and with pain and
endeavor found, and brought again into view, it is _recollection_."
Fuller says, commenting on this: "Memory is the power of reproducing in
the mind former impressions, or percepts. Remembrance and Recollection
are the exercise of that power, the former being involuntary or
spontaneous, the latter volitional. We remember because we cannot help
it but we recollect only through positive effort. The act of
remembering, taken by itself, is involuntary. In other words, when the
mind remembers without having tried to remember, it acts spontaneously.
Thus it may be said, in the narrow, contrasted senses of the two terms,
that we remember by chance, but recollect by intention, and if the
endeavor be successful that which is reproduced becomes, by the very
effort to bring it forth, more firmly intrenched in the mind than ever."
But the New Psychology makes a little different distinction from that of
Locke, as given above. It uses the word memory not only in his sense of
"The power to revive, etc.," but also in the sense of the activities of
the mind which tend to receive and store away the various impressions of
the senses, and the ideas conceived by the mind, to the end that they
may be reproduced voluntarily, or involuntarily, thereafter. The
distinction between remembrance and recollection, as made by Locke, is
adopted as correct by The New Psychology.
It has long been recognized that the memory, in all of its phases, is
capable of development, culture, training and guidance through
intelligent exercise. Like any other faculty of mind, or physical part,
muscle or limb, it may be improved and strengthened. But until recent
years, the entire efforts of these memory-developers were directed to
the strengthening of that phase of the memory known as "recollection,"
which, you will remember, Locke defined as an idea or impression "sought
after by the mind, and with pain and endeavor found, and brought again
into view." The New Psychology goes much further than this. While
pointing out the most improved and scientific methods for
"re-collecting" the impressions and ideas of the memory, it also
instructs the student in the use of the proper methods whereby the
memory may be stored with clear and distinct impressions which will,
thereafter, flow naturally and involuntarily into the field of
consciousness when the mind is thinking upon the associated subject or
line of thought; and which may also be "re-collected" by a voluntary
effort with far less expenditure of energy than under the old methods
and systems.
You will see this idea carried out in detail, as we progress with the
various stages of the subject, in this work. You will see that the first
thing to do is _to find something to remember_; then to impress that
thing clearly and distinctly upon the receptive tablets of the memory;
then to exercise the remembrance in the direction of bringing out the
stored-away facts of the memory; then to acquire the scientific methods
of recollecting special items of memory that may be necessary at some
special time. This is the natural method in memory cultivation, as
opposed to the artificial systems that you will find mentioned in
another chapter. It is not only development of the memory, but also
development of the mind itself in several of its regions and phases of
activity. It is not merely a method of recollecting, but also a method
of correct seeing, thinking and remembering. This method recognizes the
truth of the verse of the poet, Pope, who said: "Remembrance and
reflection how allied! What thin partitions sense from thought divide!"