Habit Is Memory

I feel assured that there is no such thing as ultimate forgetting; traces once
impressed upon the memory are indestructible.—Thomas De Quinceyan
accurate and retentive memory is the basis of all busi- ness success. In the last
analysis, all our knowledge is based on our memories. Plato said it this way,
"All knowledge is but rememberance"; while Cicero said of memory, it is "the
treasury and guardian of all things." One strong example should suffice for the
time being—you could not be reading this book right now, if you didn't
remember the sounds of the twenty-six letters of our alphabet! This may seem a
bit far fetched to you, but it is true, nevertheless. Actually, if you were to lose
your memory completely, you would have to start learning everything from
scratch, just like a new born baby. You wouldn't re- member how to dress, or
shave, or apply your makeup, or how to drive your car, or whether to use a knife
or fork, etc. You see, all the things we attribute to habit, should be attributed to
memory. Habit is memory. Mnemonics, which is a large part of a trained
memory, is not a new or strange thing. As a matter of fact, the word,
"mnemonic" is derived from the name of the Greek God