A Pe r fe c t M e mo ry

H ow to H av e an d K eep I t

BY

Marvin Dana M A LL B
,
. .
, . .
,

PH D F
. .
,
etc .
 C o n te n ts

I N RO DU C O RY
T T

PART I
”
C ONC E N T RAT I ON
PART II
f VI S UA L I zAT I O N

PAR T III
TH E C ONC RE TE

PART I V
/
TI I E ASSOC IA I ON F ID EA ST O

PAR T V
ME MO RI I N A L I S
Z G T

PART V I
A O I DA N C E F TH E A S RA C
V O B T T

PAR T V I I
C ONC E R N I N G DA E S T

PART V I I I
C ONC E R N I N G N AME S ND FA C E S A

1 PART IX
‘
S
PRE E R V A T I ON OF K NOWL E D GE
 A P e r fe c t M e mo ry
H ow to H av e an d K eep I t

I n tr o du c to ry

MAN of science has learned

that the humble worm will
not only t urn as promis ed
,

by the proverb but w i ll,

also turn aw ay and refuse

,

to enter a hole in which it

has once re ce i v e d an electric shock Here
/
.
,

then is demonstration of the fact that the

,

worm possesses a memory None claims .

that the evidence suggests great mentality

on the part of the earth burrower ; never
-

t h e l e s s it ma k es clear that the faculty of

,

memory is present in one of the lowest

animal forms . Probably this sort of
,

memory is all the creature needs in its walk

or crawl
—
of life
—
.
 A Perfect Memory

Such sort is by no means su ffi cient for

human beings under the stress of living
conditions today Unfortunately many a .
,

man some women and a few children

, , ,

have the angleworm memory no more ,

.

They too need to be clubbed by C l C Ct I l C

, ,
‘

‘
i t y to remember things The d i fiere nce is .

that the worm is p robably doin g the best

it can while the human being is d oing its
, “W M “W m -
M W “ W e“ w u u m a m a mt-«N » m

worst One of our ancestors swinging by

.
,

the tail from the lofty branch of a cocoa

nut tre e had no occasion to remember
,

much of anything beyond the single vital fact

that he must not inadvertently loosen the
grip of his cau dal appendage I n this cen .

tury however if we wish to hold our place

, ,
.
,

we need to use many grips all we have —

.

And of these the chief are the grips of

, ,

memory For mind is master today and

.
,

memory is the fighting force of mind I ts ,

horse foot and dragoons its Dreadnoughts

, , ,

a erO p l a n e scouts and all els e Will is , .

the Commander i n chief ; the commi ss ar l at - -

is energy Shrewdness a l i as perceptivity

.
, ,

[ ]
8
 Introductory

is the strategy But the ablest

m
.

general the ost brilliant board of strategy

, ,

the amplest commissariat are p owerless ,

without the troops Thus helpless mind.

,

without memory .

In days of old a wit made a metaphysical

j est anent the ceaseless arguments over
,

mind and matter .

What is matter " Never min d .

What is mind " N o matter .

For doctrine that is worth a smile ; for

,

practice it is pretty poor stu ff We would

,
.

better regard mind and matter as one and

the same t h i ng f B ack of both is the ulti
mate mystery which as Haeckel s ays
, , ,

must ever elude the rese arches of all science .

Yet this side of the mystery we find the

, ,

precise laws that are essentially in harmony

for the wh ol e c ons t i t ut i on of man for body , ,

mind and soul Physical culture has taught

.

us as familiar truth that on e can do almost

anything with the body by right training
of it T he puling valetudinarian becomes
.

a Samson ; the waddling pu ffing feminine

,

[9 ]
 A Perfe ct Memory

grampus shrinks to a sylph The ladies .

put on and t a ke off at will hips busts and , ,

other anatomical variants of fash i on ; not

as they on ce did in the guise of mysterious
,

attachments from the manufacturers of

paddings and straitj ackets but from the ,

fierce re solve to be in style which manifest s ,

in rollings bantings diets ground and

, , ,

lofty t umblings calisthenics of high and

,

low degree We know how to build a

.

biceps We know h ow to par e down hips

.

as surely as a chiropodist pares down a

corn For that matter we know now how
.
,

to lose the corn first losing the chiropo

-

as simple and sure as the building of a

biceps I do not press the analogy as to
.

the paring down of the hips for the excel ,

lent reason th at few of us have superfluous

brain to require the paring The .

simple truth of the matter is that every

,

norm al p m h as a n e xce l l ent cap a crt y

w

for memory If it seem poor ine fficient

.
, ,

as I nattentive to what is going on round

[ ]
I O
 Introductory

about as a messenger boy reading a dime

novel while he loiters on his way it is b e ,

cause the memory is not given a fair chance .

it is the fault of the owner ,

W u he memory The me m ory.needs

exercise training just as does the hollow
, ,

chest I t will respond gratefully to treat

.

ment as surely as the lungs to deep breath

,

ing And the response of the mind is

.

\ swi ft e b t l e r far more splendid

,

the mystery b a ck of everything

.

{3 ‘
,

however cunn l ng l y defined B ut .

the law of forc e is plain The use of en erg y .

"’ b -J'h
m m u n- cw “ 0- 0 F' " m “ m u
. r .

brings energy Force tends to fl ow i ncrea s

v
h w a m

~ x
.

i figl y G E RBE R it is expende d It is the .

dammed current that grows stagn ant b e ,

comes a dead thing The muscle most .

stressed swells strongest : always the energy ,

flows to its need The tongue of the shrew

.

darts incessantly unfatigu ed ; t h e brain

~

cells o f a Spencer multiply from moment to

moment Of course th ere is such a thing
.
,

a s strain which means disaster a checking

, ,

of the flow of force But our bodies are

.

[ ]
u
 A Perfect Memory

equipped with warning wires to guard us '

from excess and , well there is small

-

danger of mental strain for most of us .

Legitimate use of t he mind never injures it .

Worry and the whole tribe of blue devils

,

a re t h i ngs apart They h ave nothing what

.

’
ever to do with the mind s use whatever ,

their relation to its ab use They are t h e .

spawn of folly and fear which influence ,

thought because a weak will so permits .

The most profound labor of the greatest

minds i n history has never yet made a
maniac But Bedlams fatten on love sick
.
-

lunatics The heart is often a dangerous

.

organ : the b ra In I s always safe There is .

no peril of extravagance in the employment

of mental processes Instead there is a
.
,

constant and ever growing delight The

-
.

greater the act IV It y of the mind the greater ,

the flow of energy to it The trouble is that.

a myriad brain fiel ds lie fallow They must

-
.

be plowed and harrowed and sown with

various seeds to produce of their abundance .

Let the husbandman Will give them care , , ,

[ ]
1 2
 I ntroductory

and they will put forth the harvest Every .

member of the body should be the servant

of the man subj ect t o his will absolutely
,
.

That means the movements of the brain ,

as well as of the legs There is a pathetic .

absurdity I n the ordinary complaints heard

from v arious persons against some individual
lack Such repinings are no more j ust than
.

would be plaints over pangs of thirst from

one wh o with the draught of wa ter at his
,

lips refused the act of will by which t o set

,

in movement t h e muscles of the throat .

The will should be ma ster of the mind as ,

of the body Y e t countless individuals

.
,

go their way in melancholy ignorance of the

truth When a person mourns over a
.

wretch e d memory he merely admits that ,

,
)
glory the mind It is there ready and
anxious to work ready indeed t o purr li ke
,
.

,
,

a stroked cat over the least attention .

So then if you are on e of the neglectful

, , ,

bestir yourself ; pet that mentality of yours

a bit cares s it When need be discipline it
, .
,

[ 3 ]
1
 A Perfect Memory
I

as well . Take this matter of memory .

Learn that it is simply to use your brain

as you please rather than to sit supine
,

in sodden forgetting of things When you .

have authority over that function of the

brain you will have gone far toward full
,

maste ry of your mind In that mastery .

lie s t he w h ole s ecr et g w

r o th .

And mental growth today means , ,

growth in power among your fellows ,

whether your peculiar sphere of activities ‘

be in the market place or in the pulpit ;

-
,

o n the sta e Or in the prize ring ; on the

g
-

farm or on the trail in art or in commerce

, , ,

in statesmanship or in finance yes even -

in matters of the heart the bigger the

.
,
“

brain the better And th e b eg i nning and

m
.
, ” ” w

end of the h ra i js m
h ‘ ” fl an a ;

emory not the -

w m

memory of the fossil but the living memory , ,

ready yesterday to day and tomorrow

,

to gather up all t h e offerings of the W i ll ,

store them arrange them in their order hold

,
]

them alert to answer again when the will

commands A memory of that sort is
.

[ 4]
1
 I ntroductory

/ to
v rt a l prosperity vital to
, t he enj oyment

of life It means a mind in the plenitude

.

of its vigor growing serene energized com

, , , ,

petent t o every task ; a mind that compels

the respect of others and what is of deeper
, ,

worth mainta i ns t o the full one s own self

’

respect which is the foundation stone

,
-

whereon content is builded .

 P a rt I

C o n c e n t r a ti o n

SYC H OL OGY is an e st i m
able even a fas ci nat i nw
,

science but sometimes non

,

sensical id eas are exploited

in its name Some of the
.

vagaries in researches of
theorists concerning the sub conscious mind ,

the subliminal are extravagant to the verge

,

of t in the matter of memory :

It is curre claimed t hat all details of

C xperience are stored in the s ubliminal
consciousness never to be forgotten
,
.

The only trouble is that these things can - 1

not be remembe red l JT h ere is a paradox

u
u

to make angels weep and

, imps to grin .

five ry t h i ng is retained in the sublim i nal

mind There it is always I n memory
.
,
.

But that subliminal mInd is below the

[ 1 6 ]
 Concentration

threshold of consciousness and so we , , ,

know nothing of its cont ent s fl From the B

standpoint of one wh o desires a practical ,

working memory this retentiveness on t h e

,
'

p art of the subconscious mind seems a

ib l e a k fai ure
l It offers an I nversion of the
.

g
’
ayn i cal ol d saying that what you do n t

m ow doesn t hurt you

’
Here it is a case
’
.
,

of what y ou don t know does you no earthly

’

good I make no argument against the

”

abilities of t he subconsci ous mind Ind eed .

,

its multiple tricks and wh i ms I es might

offer evidence for almost any fantastic
theory It may b e quite true that a drown
.

ing man sees in a flitting instant the whole

panorama of his life Personally I am .
,

inclined to suspect that the jumb l e of um

controlled ideas i n such a t ime of shock
might well be enough to spread a report
that has been carried far beyond the truth .

But if we admit the fact it advantages us

,
-

not There is mighty little present com

.

fort when we forget today in being sure

, ,

t hat we shall re memb e r i f so be that -

[ 7]
1
 A Perfect Me mory

sometime we com e to drown Tt ud ent s .

of the occ ult maintain that it is possible to

recall every experienc e out of the limbo of

the subconscious and even to follow back
,

one s own personality I nto preceding i n

’

carnations 2But the process is confessedly

.

long and tedious and really requires a ,

few score years isolation in some Himalayan

- -

monastery which would be an inconvenience

,

to many of us however d es 1rab l e in itself

, .

Besides the evidence in proof of the con

, .

tention is none too convincing Those who .

Offer t h e testimony are not always s atis

factory i n their statements I have met .

a numb er of individuals who declared that

they had dragged recoll ections of previou s
incarnations out of their s ub h mrn al con
s ci ous ness Four of these all alive at the
.
—

present time informed me with ingenu

—
,

ous pride th at they had been Cleo p atra

, .

I might add from a critical observation of

,

the quartette that t h e Egyptian s beauty

,
’

was nothing to go mad over anyhow -

when divided by four .

[ 118 ]
 A Perfect Memory

precise constitution and metabolism of the

brain cells It is enough for our purpose to
-
.

consider merely the mechanics Of the camera

in its simplest phase .

In the taking of a photograph a sensitive ,

plate is introduced into th e camera .

Hitherto the prepared glass or film has

,

be en carefully prote cted in such wise that

no slightes t ray of light could fall upon any
portio n of its surface This sensitized re
.

c i p i e nt is of a sort corresponding in some

measure to the brain tissues that receive

-

those impressi ons which we term memory .

It must be borne in min d that the camera

is strictly protected from the intrusion of
the tinie st ray of light Such protection
.
" ,

after the setting of the plate is absolutely ,

essential to the s uccessful p hotographing

of any scene Ultimately when the camera
.
,

has been duly adjusted in such a position

as to comman d the required obj ects to be
photographed the protecting cover is t e
,

moved from t he lens T h roug h j h at one

.

p oint only is light a llowed to fall U pon the

[ 2 0 ]
 Conce ntration

s ensitive p late B y reason of this fact

.
,

t he plate is subj ected t o the action O f the

actin i c r ay s e manat i ng from the Obj ects t o
be photographed while all other rad i ance
,

of every kin d is rigorously barred

The pl ate in consequence receives only
‘

, ,

those vibrations of radiant energ y and no ,

others . So simple is the operation

of the camera with which we are concerned :

We need t o consider In this connection

only one other requ i rement as vital to our
purpose of i llustration For the m aking of
.

a photograph the camera must be traine d

,

on somethin g Concr e te Otherwise th ere

.
,

could b e no successful p i cture T here must .

be some definite obj ect in the perspective ,

or there will b e no definite photograph .

There can be no significant photograph of a

clear blue s ky wi tho ut clo uds birds air
, , ,

ship or horizon line There can be no

, .

revealing picture of a motionle ss bulk of

water co nt aining n ought save th e I nert
,
.

liquid I nstead , must appear fishes or

.
,

shore line or reflection s in th e depths or

, ,

[ 2 1 ]
 A Perfect Memory

the spray of wave crests or ripples some

-
,
-

thing of concrete individuality Else t h e .

,

photograph will s how nothing more than a

monotonous expanse of surface which might ,

be anything or nothing
,

If now we bear i n mind the operation

, ,

of the camera I n I t s successful work we ,

shall have a simple guide for the u nd er

standing of the manner in which the brain
must operate for the successful st oring of
memories .

When one would remember anything ,

he must give his wh g lg attent i on to thatm

particular thing for an appreciable length

of time . This means concentration The .

period of concentration may be long or

short ; often it need be no more than the
,

tiniest fraction of a second But it must .

m
i ntlIe fa i l ui e i
to con ce n
d i vi d ua l s indeed seem
, ,

the power of concentration as a

ss e s s i on in its perfe ction But .
,
 Concentration

in the vast maj ority of instances the faculty ,

of attentio n must be cul tivated as an art

w
.
m
At hatever pains the student In
,

this ability of

trainin g in concentration is to the mind

WM M W “um-w

i tal a s the developme n

W

as v t of the athlete s ’

The p r emi er e da ns eus e of the ball

strengthen j oI nt s and tendons an d m uscles
through countless racking h ours ere she can
flit airily on her bent down toes Tedious
-
.

years are necessary for the practice of the

juggler in his garr et before he acquires the
s kill wi t h b a l a n ced billiard balls and what

nots that brings him his hundreds of dollars

weekly on the stage where he is the cynosure
,

of all eyes for the ease W I t h which he tri

ump h s ove r seeming impossibilities of equi

libration .

Luckily the li ke wearisome toil i s not

,
“

demanded in our task of concentration for ,

the results of mental training are immediate ,

and the prog ress it self is one long ser i es of

[ 3 ]
2
 A Perfe ct Memory

onquests to affo rd us delight agre e

“

c .

able n ature of the exercise is fortunate i n g ,

j
truth since conc entration is the prim e
,

secret not only in memory as such but

, , ,

a lso
,
in all impo rtant brai n work The .

inventor who triumphs over problems of

supreme di fficulty does i t by a persistent ,

indom i table c oncentration on the obstacles

to be overcome By that concentration
.
,

he discovers the way to victor JEve ry

y
.

great thinker in any line of t hought has

t his maste ry of concentration by which ,

alone he is able to employ all the powers

t
within his brain for conquest over the
to which he has set himsel f .

I n this power of co ncentrati on we find

a clue to the explanation of many e ccent ri
c I t l e s that may seem puzzling on t he p art

of men of genius Thus the sublime

.
,

drunkard of Hohenhei m as Paracelsus has

,

been called w h ose researches touched on

,

truths far in advance of his age was accus ,

t ome d to toil in his laboratory thr ough

days and nights without cessation without ,

[ 4]2
 Concentration

r est or refreshment Th en when at last

.
, , ,

the probl em had been solved he gave the ,

worn out mind its holiday He abandoned

-
.

himself to bo dily recreation first sleep , ,

a n d then the g r at i ficat l on of every car

,

nal appetite to excess to satiety Many,

.

anoth er gen ius h as been guilty of the like

in dul gence Such men think hard and
.
,

they play hard Whatever t h e thing be it

.
,

good or evil they do I t with intensity

, .

Such intensity is the condition of great

thought . Let us of a more humble
,

m ental deg ree ape their virtues of concen

,

while we deplore their fol lies .

the act of me mory one must shut out

,

his mind for an interval everything

ept the si ngle thing to be
this mean s the rays Of thought l i ke
“ '

, ,

t he beam s of light that pass through the

lens of the c amera shine from th e thing
,

to be remembered directly U pon the brain

cells that are t o serve a s the s e ns I t Ive plate
in recording the mental picture If thought .

of other things intrude while the e ffort is

[ 5]
2
 A Perfect Memory

being made to concentrate on the give n

subj ect the result in the brain will be a
,

blurred image just as in the camera a

leak of light into the interior from any
point other than through the lens mu s t ruin
the negative .

As a matter of fact most persons fail to ,

give particular attention to the things they

mean to remember and therefore they are , , ,

uite incapable of exact recol

t such persons invar i ably lay
,

n a poor memory Th &£Qi ng .

M9

h e rj g

wrl l not d uly exercised permits t he ,

person to think of haphazard things when

h e is making a supposititious e ffort t o fix
s ome definite obj ect in memory .

J ust here it is well to

,
realize the vital
difference that exists between concentrat ion
and absent minde d ness which are often
-
'

wOii ftlfiffdetl by the superficial ob

m ” w m w

t i me
- j fi

s '

server The absent minded per son does

.
-

on e thing while thinking of another

,
.

That is something impossible t o perfect

[ 2 6 ]
 A Pe rfect Memory
on t h e contrary is he whose
, wits g o ra m _

bling undirected by w i l l gowool gathering

,
-

to use the old phras e There was a R ou .

manian professor who i nve nt e d a parachute

,
.

He made a balloon ascension for the pur

p ose of testing his contrivance At a .

height of three thousand yards under some ,

hazy impulse engendered of his original

intention h e cl amb e re d over the edge of the
,

car and ju mped out into space He had

,
.

descended about a thousand yards with t he ,

i ncre asing speed ch ar act erl st l c of fall i ng

bodies when the fact penetrated his b e
,
“

mused consciousness that thi ngs were not

altogether as they sho uld be In an instant .

of ill um i nation he almost remembered his

,

mistake in having failed t o equip hims elf

with the parachute .

”
“
Dear me " he exclaimed just befo re he ,

made a very messy dent in the earth .

”
“
I ve forgotten my umbrella "
’

Most of us are absent minded to some -

extent —
though happily for those de
”
,

pendent on us for support not quIt e In the ,

[ 2 8 ]
 Concentration

gruesome fashion of the professor None .

the less we share his fault often and it is a

, ,

thing to be g uarded against scrupulously

by those eager for the perfect memory .

Perhaps the commonest instance of a lack

,

of concentration that is really nothing o ther

than ab sent mindedness is in connection

-

with the matter of remembering the names

of perso ns m et either socially or in business .

The average perso n when introduced to a ,

stranger looks at the new face with some

,

curiosity gives a merely mechanical atten

,

t i on t o the name i f indeed he not i ce i t at

'

, , ,

all exchanges a few more or less perfunctory

,

words and passes on t o another meeting

,
.

Ordinarily th e appearance of the stranger

,

holds some measure of interest We smile .

over the k indliness of one face g rin at the ,

grotesqueness of another respect a t hi rd , ,

and detest a fourth and by so much our ,

attention is held t o the forms and faces of

the strangers Another factor is involved
.
,

inasmuch as the vi s i on reg i st ers a utomatic

‘

ally as a usual thi ng i ts imp ressi ons on the

, ,

[ 9]
2
 A Perfect Memory

brain during the time while it continues .

As to the name however there is rarely

, ,

anything to command particular heed with ,

out a distinct act of wi l l So inevitably .

, ,

the n ame is forgotten A poor memory is .

blamed The victim of such forgetfulness

.

announces to all and sundry that he has a

good memory for faces but a wretched ,

memory for names Nearly everybody

.

makes this rather foolish assertion Ordi

‘

n a r i l y too the claim is apparently j ustified

, ,

by the facts ; but only appare ntly in the ,

manner which I have suggested Memory .

t
f i s not at fault rather the neglect of it
,
.

i
Let us consider the matter somewhat more
I n detail .

The pri me cause of failure to remembe r

stranger s name lies as I have pointed out
’

, ,

the fact that practically no heed is given

to the name as it is spoken in introduction .

There may be a mechanical mouthing of i t

, ,

but there is no actu al co ncentration the ,

intent thin k ing of just that name and noth

In
g else I n all the univer s e for a second or
[3 ] 0
 Concentration

two —
it needs n o longer The mental
.

camera 1s receiving vibrations of light from

a dozen other sources at the moment when
there should be only the photographing o f
’
the name when the re cI p Ient s brain should
,

be c l ear for an appreciable inte r val of all

thought whatsoever except that focused on
the name of the stranger Were this brief ,

but absolute concentration made the name

, ,

would be remembered with certainty The .

effect of even the swiftest concentrat i on I s

witnessed by the other fact that in the ,

matter of remember i ng faces th ere is ,

almost always a real atten t ion given to the

survey of a stra nger s features In making
’
.

the most casual acknowledgment of an

introduction the eyes rest on the new face
, ,

and study the details of it mec hanically

m
,

and thus they beco e the means of making

a mental picture more or less precise
,
.

While the eyes are thus fixed on the face ,

they are actually holding their gaze con

cent rate d on it from the nature of the case
p hysiologi cally even when the mind of the
,

[3 ]
1
 A Perfe ct Memory

observer is not giving especial regard to the

fact Consequently there is an automati c
.
,

an d e ffecti ve action by which the face is

,

photographed with some degree of d efini t e

ness on the br ain though the will doe s not
,

specifically direct the operation So .

,

we hear t h e well n igh universal l ament

-

“
Oh yes I remember faces ; but I have a
, ,
”
poor memory for names .

In the case of faces ther e is at least t h e,

involun tary concentration ; in the case of

n ames the probabilities are in favor of
,

there being no concentration neither com ,

mon or garden nor C S O t C I l C

,
’

As of names so of all the multitudino us

,

obj ects we would store i n memory There .

must be concentration of the mind or ,

‘
there will be can be n o memory ; that is
, ,

t o say no e x act memory and aught other

, ,

is a s nare and a d elusion There is never .

difficulty in remembering those things that

have been of vital importance The mo .

ment of supreme peril or supreme bliss , ,

is remembered with unswerving fi delity

[3 ]
2
 Concentrat i on

through a lifetime of slipsh od memor i es .

This for the simple reason that in the

,

period of stress glad or grave every particle

, ,

of attention is given to the crisis Nought .

else obtrudes upon the picture .

with the perfect camera rightly directed , ,

the photograph is cle ar without any flaw

,
.

It is obvious then that the stud ent who

, ,

would perfect his memory must first develop

ability to con centrate at will on any given
m
t h eme . And he need not este em the attain
ment of this power as a drudgery for t he
p urpose of memory merely On the con .

t ra ry it is the exercise by which best h e will

,

increase his pow ers of achievement al ong

all intellectual lines for it lies at the found a
,

tion of all fN o man can be great in any

.

depart me nt of endeavor who is not the

possessor of mu ch force of concentration .

/
C oncentration IS the essential of g ood
memory It is as well th e essential of all
.
, ,

e tru e success
, .

rat ion I s too the master time

, ,
 A Perfect Memory

through an entire evening of honest eh

d e avor to learn the facts se t forth on a singl e
page of history I have seen him fail in the
.

attempt despite arduous conscientious

, ,

s t r l v mg u n til h e was worn out by the toil .

Th e trouble was that he could not hold his

thought s to the task Always his wits .
,

were a wan derl ng j l His brain played bat

’c r

t l e dore and shuttlecock but the feathered ,

ball of his fancy was ever ch anging His .

ideas rioted in an endless game of tag a ,

futile ring around th e rosy of lucubrations

- - -

in which the h istorical statement on which

he held s t aring eyes was only occas ron al ly
the center The orbit of his ideas included
.

the history but rarely Time and again .

,

the ideas we re driven toward impingement

on it by a spasmodic lethargic e ffort of
,

will : To small avail " For the most part ,

the historical fact lay remote infinitely ,

remote far without the cosmos of rotati ng

,

ideas He tried to study

.
—
h e tried oh , ,

so hard " The most pathetic part of

the whole affair was that b e deemed h imself
[ 34]
 A Pe rfect Memory

concentration to master it
eve l op
‘

"
.

i s by intelligent p ractis e "

”
e Try to hold a chosen top
a fixed period of time Do not b e too ambi .

tious The discouragement of failure b e

.

comes more acute Be content W i th a .

m i nute at the outset ,

—
less perhaps if , ,

your pride permit You will pro bably .

fin d the time limit of sixty seconds beyond

-

your powers at first But try it con .

s ci e nt i ousl y Obse rve with the u tmost

.

scrupulosity that no outside ideas are

a l lowed obtrusion into the brain Such .

absolute control of the mind is diffi cult .

Also it is i nt erest i ng fip rofoun d ly so and

, ,

profoundly valuable There needs .

help from another ; no books no ap p ara ,

for this exercise no set time even ,

.

your brain and your will tilting to ,

r Any moment of leisure will serve

. .

The few minutes of wait for a car ; the

coming of another person fO F an appoint ~

ment ; the inte rval before falling asleep

sa w - w
.

fSe l ect a subj ect th en st rive to hold I t as

,

[3 ]
6
 Concentration
c th e c enter of your thought for the full
mi nut e without allowing i t to be dr iven
i

from its place by any other interest Hold .

i t as a s un in the center of your mental

universe Other ideas ideas sympathet ic
.
,

with it will ( ro tate about i t"as planets

,

about their orb of light ; but they must

neverecli pse it for a Second If the eclipse
“
.

come j ust t ighten the will a bit and try

, ,

again . Do not expect the idea to hold

itself s ol i ta ry in the mind There can be
.

no stagnation in the bra i n But make the

.
’

theme of though t the center of the mind s ’

activity with all els loyal subjects mar

,

shaled I n al l eg i an
e The i nstant another
,

idea c rowds U pon the throne the test has ,

failed the concentration is at an end It

, .

may have lasted for ten s econds for five ,

only . No matter The important thing

.

is that it s hould have lasted at al l nnder m

should have chosen a topic for thought and ,

h ave held i t exclusively in the mind for

'

an a preciable len th of time

p g
 A Perfect Memory

ponder this : C oncentration makes mind

‘
e fii ci e n cy And e ffi ciency is the birth
.

of success .

At the b eg i nmng of the training by all ,

means choose a subj ect that is attractive .

in itself since this will naturally be more

,

easily retained without too much labor on

the part of a supine will It is quIt e enou g h
.

at the outset if y ou real l y learn to scrutinize

your own mental processes ; if y ou know
d efinitely, concisely accurately that for a
, ,

s et period of time you held a selected t opic

a s t h e c enter of your thought without an ,

instant of intermission If you happen t o

.

be in love you will find no di ffi culty in

,

ma mt a rn mg uninterrupted thought of the

obj ect of your affe ction But this very .

fact that the feelings are deeply engaged

will rende r it almost im possible for you to
preserve that watch over your mental O pera
tions that is the prime requisite of con
centration Your emotion might inj ect
.

thoughts of a rival to the total excl usion

,

[3 ]8
 C On cent r at i on

momentarily of the loved one It were .

wiser to take a theme th at is e s p ecrall y

agreeable yet one that is not heart thrilling
,
-
.

A ple asant incident out of the past will al l t - »

swer the purpose excellently Let the min d .

re enact the event as vividly a s p os s rb le .

Observe always watchfulness that no

, ,

thought of unrelated things comes upon the

scene Whe n such strang er ap p e ars th e
.

” ; m

will must take another hold o f the situation ,

even as you glance at your watch to note

the tim e limit of your concentration
-
.

Do not be disco uraged by the fact that

at first you will find a constant struggle
going on in your brain Take comfort .

from t h e fa ct that you are beginning to

.

observe just what is going on in the most

important part of your being After you .

have noted the minute and second exactly ,

and have begun concentratio n on the

chosen topic almost at once thought alto
,

gether fore Ig n will seek to crowd to the

c enter of the mind There is a reason for
.

that a reason wise and b eneficent b ut

, ,

[39]
 A Perfect Memory
apart from our present purpose of inves t i
g a t i o n I t is the province of the will to
keep ward vigilantly not ceasing for an
,

instant to drive back such enemies of the

task Maintain steadfastly the selected
.

t op 1c as a central pivot arou nd which al l

,

your me ntal operations for the time being

rotate with radii of connection to that
,

center The unrel at ed i deas must swarm

.
h p

outside the cha rmed circle You need feel .

no discouragement from the fact that y ou

are conscious of t heir presence beyond the
pale The important thing 18 that they
.

sh ould not be allowed ever to advance .

They must constantly be held rigorously

a loof by the will . In that instant when one
of these unrelated ideas reaches the cent e r

o f the mind s though t it eclipses the chosen

’

topic The concentration is thus broken

. .

Look at your watch then Note the .

time that has elapsed It will be a matte r

. .

of seconds at first -
of hours afterward .

Have no anxiety if the periods of success

ful c oncentration continue to be very short
[4 ] 0
 for a while th e vital thing is t o get
.
,

first of all some knowledge of your own

,

m i nd some understanding of the processes

,

by which ideas throng there When you .

can really tell just what y ou are thinking

about y ou have already made an enormous
,

adva nce beyond the ordinary person I n .

concentration thus practise d y ou do pre ,

ci s el y that : You k now what y ou a re think

ing about You choose t h e theme You

. .

hold that idea j ealously guar ded You ,

.

know when the unrelated thought obtrudes

itself You stop for an ins tant You re
.

x
.

new the will s g r i p You begin again ’

. .

So y ou know what you are thinking about

,

e —
really k now M ost persons do not . .
e

T he average in dividual has a feeble idea

of his mental content at any given moment .

Gener a lly he deceives hims e lf in the matter

, .

He believes th at he 1s g 1v1ng attent ion to the

nam e of rang er just being introduc ed
to him hile I n very sooth h i s plea sed
, , ,

interes t 1s wholly devoted t o the astoni sh

i ng l y hirsute wart that lends d l s t Inct Ion to
[4 ]1
 A Perfect Memory

nose
t ll e s t r a n g e r s Ah yes " A good
’

Lmemo ry for faces and for hirsute warts

.
,
'

, .

But a miserable memory for names In .

short an excel l ent me mory for the things

,

to which y ou give attention and none for ,

the others When you have lea rned to

.

keep track of your thoughts a little you ,

will know whether or not you pa i d attention

to the spoken name According to this .

detail y ou will remember or you will not

, , .

Presently you will come to t his statement

,

concerning failure of memory

memory 18 splendid I insult it by .

lack of attention Concentration will cure

.

For a motto p araphrase the advertisers

,

Press the concentration .

Memory will do the rest .

Later on as you find yours elf able to

,

concentrate for the brief period set you ,

will increase this time limit little by little

-
, ,

quite undiscouraged by seeming slowness

of progress s mce alread y you have achieved
,

[4 ]2
 A Perfe ct Memory

h ave its wish and it will make a glutton of

,

you fi ust as we must control our bodily

.

appetites i f we would h ave bodies worth

,

the h avmg so we mu st control our minds if

, ,

we would have intelligenc e worth wh i l e l

g

Thus ; unceasingly the e ffort toward atten

,

t i ve n e ss must be made in this essential

training for the perfect memory The stu .

dent must exert h imself steadfastly to

s ec ure an absolute absorption of all the
mental energ i es I n the on e topic The .

wh ole tho ught m u st be directed un swe rv

i ng l y toward the theme selec t ed allowing ,

no least variant from it This is d i fli cul t

,
. .

It demands practise But the rewards are

.

adequate to t he toil When one become s .

able to retain the ent I re attention on a sing le

theme for the space of one ml nut e without ,
’
a moment s intrusion of an unrelated
thought then there is already developed
,

the power of min d control which is the first ,

essential of a masterful memory When .

this much has been achieved the student ,

-

whensoever he wi sh es to m emoriz e a nything ,

[ 44 ]
 C oncent r at l on

has b ut to call U pon his will to command

that all other subj ects shall for the time
be rigorously barred from consciousness .

Indeed it needs only a few seconds of such

,

perfect concent rat ron on a special subj ect

to ma k e a s uccessful permanent available
, ,

record on the brain a record that mea ns

,

a vitalized memory Such perfect concen

.

t r at i on is something worth worki ng for .

It is not too easily acquired By so much.

as the concentration lacks perfection b y ,

so m uch the time of thought necessa ry for

m
the making of a clear record must be longer .

f T his ideal concentration occurs naturally

often in mome nts of great peril when the ,

scene is etched on t h e brain in the fra ct Ion

‘

of a second to endure through a lifetime o f

,

memo ry In such instants when the con

.
,

centration is perfect t he mental camera

,

works precisely as does the photographic

camera when a snap shot is taken in fierce
-

s unli h e most minute portion of time

g
su ffi c es a pe rfect exposure When the.

concentration i s l essen ed by a l essening of

[ 45 ]
 A Perfect Memory

attention then the mental camera O p e rat es

,
/

after the fashion of the photographic when

the sky is covered with clouds A time .

exposure must be made The duller light

.

demands a considerable S pace of time in

which to limn the picture with distinct and
lasting lines .

Remember too that the concentration

,

of which I write has nothing to do with the

abs orbed thought compelled by any force

other than the will You can think of a
.

certain thing until the crack of d oomf an d ,

if the c ause of your thinking be fear or ,

worry or desire or love or hate or anything

, , , ,

whatsoever outside your own will s uch ,

thinking is not true concentration In .

such c ase y ou are not the master of your

,

mind and y our mastery of t he mind is a t

,

once the cause and the effect in concentra

tion ;
There is another simple and c onstan t
me thod in which to practise con centration
'

though it is somewhat difficult to one who

has had no experience of its inestimable
[4 ]6
 Concentration

advantages to believe I n It s merits This .

a dmIr a b l e e x ercise con 3 1sts I n concentration

on each thing in turn that on e does That .

does not seem formidable perhaps Some ,

.

may have already declared that they do

this very thing But stop a m i nute R e
. .

fl ect then be quite honest

,
There are .

exceptions y dufi fi d w many of them For

m
‘
.
,

the ordinary person most things are ex ,

ce p

tions Sing at your work if you please

.
, ,

but bear in mind that neither the work

nor the singing is the best of which you are
capable since to n either do you give your
,
,

whole attention I knew a woman who

.

confided to me t he deplorable fact that she

learned Latin while b rush l ng her hair .

I perjured myself like a gentlema n by com

p l i me n t i ng her o n her industry i Her .

Latinity was bad a nd her crown of glory

,

was a sh ame .

It wo uld take t oo long to detail the a d

vantages that must accrue from such per
sistence in concentration carried out in each
a ct IV It
y . T h e thought f ul s t ud ent will have
[ 47 ]
 A Perfect Memory

a spur set to understandi ng by this one .

ri ma ry truth : Gre at est effici en cy can

”

’
be secured by t h e direction of all one s
energies to a single achievement at any t une .

E fficiency is the aim of e very person worth

our consideration . Your whole power can
not go to the solving o f a hard problem
when part o f the attention is devoted to
s ome bodily activity There is a seem i ng
.

exception in t h e case of purely automatic

actions but the except i on 1s more apparent
,

th an real s i nce many operations that seem

,

to us to require no thought at all do in fact

engage a considerable part of our attenti on ,

a n d by so much the solving of the h ard

problem is made more d i fli cul t T hat is .

the reason why the i ndustrious lady s ’

Latinity was a sorrow and her hair a dis

g race . She nev e r actually got t o the roots

of her L at I n or of her hair Give the matter

.

a trial for yourself by the simple test of

,

dres s ing in t h e morning with full attention

-

t o e a ch det a il of the toilette

\
In the bath .
,

while putti ng on each garment , lacing the

[4 ]8 x
 Concentration

shoes brushing t h e hair give your whole

, ,

self to each task in turn not only the body, ,

but the mind as well For once do not .

,

let the cares of the day begin quite so soon

“

If you follow the simple p l an I Suggest you

’

will discover a new pleasure e ven a new ,

d i g n It y In each detail
,
perhaps from the -

fact that you are doing the thing more

carefully and more expeditiously t han usual .

You will discover it may be that you

, ,

present at the breakfast table a well

groomed appearance something beyond your
wont Certainly y ou will learn that t h e
.
,

t I me set for dressing may be shortened

materially if you choos e while the functi on

, ,

itself takes on a curiou s add e d interest as ,

does every indivi dual act into whic h re a l

attention i s put There follows t oo the
.
, ,

discovery th at the frame of mind is better

at t h e t e rml nat l on of the toilette than it was
sometimes of yore . For this manner of
,

concentration b rings new fresh ness of zest

to e very a ctivity in turn If there be some
.

thing t odete rmine at the outs et of the day ,

[ 49 ]
 A Perfect Memory

wai t until the toilette is done then with , ,

the body wholly quiet give your whole ,

attention to the matter and the determina

,

tion reached will surely be the best of which

you are capable The like principle should
.

be applied throughout every minute of life .

You may doubt t h e expediency of this .

You may think that in giving your whole

a t t e nt l on to the many t r i fl es of life you

would be wasting your time The contrary .

is the truth In the common lack of con

.

tion you waste en ergy at every

,

is l ost and you do all things better You

,
.

will work more worthily for giving your

attention to your work Why yes .
, ,

everybody a dmits that Well then just .

, ,

bear the truth in mind and apply it

,
both
to work and to play The moment your
.

int erest is divided that moment there is a

,

we a ke n l ng of your e ffi ci en Cy You must .

lea rn t o concentrate every instant if you ,

would be at your best —

and too if you , ,

would grow would always keep growing

“

.
,

[s ]o
 A Perfect Memory

So much for con cent rat Ion t he first re

,

q u i s i t e of the perfect m emory Whatever

.

other instructions may follow the student

,

must still bea r in mInd that they will avail

him little should he fail in cul t Ivat Ion of this
prime essential He must remember that
.

con ce nt ra t Ion is comman ded whenever he

woul d make sure of installing facts in mem

Other things there are things Impo r
,

t ah t eve n vital t o the successfu l memo ry

“

'

, , ,

but concent rat Ion I s I ts very essenc e With

.

the perfecting of this power man be co mes

,

the master of his own mind a wonderfu l

ki ngdom wherein memory serves with
,

flawl ess faith fulness .

 Part I I
V i s u a l i z a ti o n

I SUAL IZAT I ON, in its con

n ect i on with memo ry ,

means the of

m ental p I ct ures
psychological stand point ‘
,

i t i s the being aware pre

c i s e l y of the t hing one wishes t o remember .

B y a direct development I n the proces s of ,

p icture-
making
, w e realize the necessity
for the concrete as opposed to t h e abstract
—
, .

W M

The this is obvious on reflec: ~

tion We can know wi th certainty on l y

.

that of wh i ch we have a clear perception .

Thu s, t h e Academici ans of France wh o

"

[ 53 ]
 A Perfect Memory

were engaged in the making of the dic

t i ona ry were doubtless slovenly in their
,

o bse r ation of the crab When they had

v .

completed their definition of the creature ,

the y rather condescendingly informed

“

Cuvier the na turalist of t h e fact

, , .

“
And what is your defi nition of a crab "
Cuvier inquired .

The spokesman of the Lexicographers

r e ad t he d efinIt Ion with great dignity
“
Crab : A small red fish that wal ks
backward The spokesm an beamed con
.

t e nt ed l y And W hat do you think of

‘
.

our definition mon sieur " ,

“
It is truly excellent Cuvier conc eded , .

” “
Only he added the crab is not n ece s
, ,

s a r i l y small ; it is not red ; it is not a fish ;

and it does not walk backward Other

wise the definition is truly excellent
,
. 5

In the opposite extreme we re the mar

v el ousl y cultivated powers of observa t ion

possessed by Houdi n who after a single , ,

glance into a shop w indow filled with

various ware s could name each sepa rate
,
 V isualiz ation

item of the total contents Such the .

difference between the great p re s t i d i g i

t at e ur and the Academician s The learned
.

gentlemen looked bu ,

looked -
and saw . ion of
hy t h i ng is always essential to exact mem l—

o ry. Without exact observation there carf ,

be no clear mental image and wi t h oult,

such distinctness of the mental

there must be only poor

mem

remember the thing on which he coneen

trates W It h absorbe d interest of which , ,

i n consequence h , sharply defined

picture On the n Max rm
g
;
w
ss e ss e s this intense concentrating a b ili t
w
fi
and his memory is correspondingly wide
and sure T he most encyclopaedic mem
.

o ry within my immediate circle of friends

was that of t he late J ohn Clark Ridpath ,

the h l storIanf He was intensely intereste d

[ 55 ]
 A Perfec t Memory

in p ractically everything tha t came to

his attention For that reason he remem
.
,

bered amazingly well His every mental .

I ct ur e was spl endidly distinct They were

p .
,

all of them clearly visualized which is

, ,

vitally necessary for the perfect memory .

The vague and the intangible c onsidera

‘

non of any fact affords no picture of

exact outl i nes for the service of memor
y
.

By so much a s the picture is l acki n i n

clear cut details b y s o much it wi l ue
—
, é
'

sent a scant unsatisfactory m emory or

, ,

none at all V isu alization out of con

.

centration is the re q uI S It e Th us when .

,

a person has once seen the sea he will ,

ever afterw ard have an exact mental pic

ture of surf and sw ell and horizon whil e ,

another, who has nothing beyond hears ay

information as to those things must image ,
”
in a confused incoherent fashion
,
.

the student comes in some m easure

“ apprehend the nec e ssity for clear V I s u

a l i z a t i on
,
f
o r picture making i n the brain
-
,

of the thing to be remembered he speedily ,

[5 ] 6
 V isualization

o
rec g n i
zes e ve r more r n gly
st o
t h e ess e ntial
part of the process where
succes s is sought This concentration in
.
,

fact covers two things : a profound atten

,

tion to the obj ect itself and a c ert ain ,

consciousnes s of the mental p roce ss itself ,

though this is necessary only for the s e cur

i ng of the form er Often indeed the
.
, ,

conc entration is compelled by circum stance

’
outside one s own volition and i n such ,

case the e ffect is lasting Thus where a .

,

person passes through a few seconds of

dire peril fr om a madman charging with
a deadly weapon t h e concentration of
,

the whole mind on th e hideous fate that

menace s forms I nst antly a mental pic tu re
that Will e ndure i n memory for a lifetime .

But in usual surroundings th e obj ect

, ,
’

p resente d is not thus m a sterful In c On s e .

q u e n ce
,
then ,
he w h o would e f
f ect an
adequate b r a I n I mage to continue in mem

ory mus t guide his d e voted attention to

the thi ng considered He must compel .

attention by an act of voliti on In other .

[ 57 ]
 A Perfect Memory

V isualization which is ess ential to good

is s faculty of visualization that i s

the prime requisite of memory for human
beings There are some folk w i th a mem
.

o ry chiefly for sou nds but these aud i l s

,
l

are comparatively rare Moreover the .

,

memory of sounds is usually purely auto

matic and it therefore requires little assist
,

ance from the will With mos t persons

.
,

picturing is the basis of imag i nation as it ,

is for memo ry Sounds as a rule are

.
, ,

remembered a utomatically if at all But , .

1t 18 only by the exceptional temperament

of the musician that novel sounds are

first heard in imagination So too even .
, ,

more emphatically of smells and of sensa

,

tions from touch With animals the case

.
,

may be quit e otherwise Thus the bat .

,

has a se n se of hearing so developed that

it must b e of first importance in the brain .

T he w hole wondrously delicate membrane

of the W i ng s i s capabl e of catching and

E5 ]
8
 A Perfect Memory
“
a nimal stories Black Beauty was just
.

a h uman being in a horse s skin For ’

.

that reason we sympathize and like it as

, ,

a s t ory But it does not tell the real

.

feeli ng of the hors e which has a strong

,
'

bone partition through its skull so that ,

it has to l eai n everything twice accord ,

ing to the side on which the novelty a p

pea rs Teach a horse to be unafraid of a
.

p arasol on the nigh side and it will still ,

bol t in terror when one appears on the

off side . In its way I t I S almost as unfortu
,

nate as the chameleon which has a brain ,

sys tem so tangled that it may strive

frantically to fly from death menacing on
the right while it is held back by the whole
left half of its body heavy i n peaceful
,

sl umber because t h e system of commun i

,

cation within t h e carcase is of a round

about sort I dilated somewhat on this
.

f act as to the impossibil i ty of i nt e rp r et mg

animals to human creatures in a conversa ,

tion with t he B aroness von Hut ten who ,

18 herself a writer of distinction and I ,

[ 60 ]
 V isualiz ation

insisted that for a reason analogous it

, ,

must be forever im p ossible for anyone

t o write truthfully outside of his own

personal experience The l ady dis agreed .

with me but she was good enough t o give

,

me an excellent illustration in my behalf

out of her own experience On her hus .

band s estates in B a varia a n ol d tenant

’

had the misfortune t o l os e h i s wife The .

B aroness in her sympathy over the ma n s ’

affl iction visited him for condolence The .

desolat e anc i ent was at his supper and ,

listened p atiently to the kind consolations

offered Whe n he spoke at last it was
.
, ,
‘

to the p oint .

/
“ ’ ’
It s a good thing it wasn t the cow “

your ex cellen cy he said ,

Wives are
e asy t o be h a d God wot " But a cow
And the B aroness as she admitted , ,

would not have conceive d that assuage

m ent for th e old man s grie f ’
‘

We must strive then within the field , ,

of our own peculiar ability which for the , ,

purposes of memory i s or dinarily that ,

[ 6 1 ]
 A Perfect M emory

of vi other senses will do their

p art 1 without artificial stimul us
from us But the sight the mental vision
.
, ,

which is the duplication by imagination

of the thing on which attention has onc e

been concentrated will repay a thousand

,

fold every care lavished to its encourage

ment
 P ar t I I I

T h e C o n c re te

ROM the conditions of con

centration and visualiza
tion we now advance to
,

consideration of the n ece s

s i t y for the c o ncrete in the

work of securing a success

ful memory .

That which I have already said con

cerning the vagu e and the ill defined in
reference to vi sualization in its be aring
’

on memory applies with added force in

considering the abstract as op p osed to

t h e concrete It is patently 1mp oss i b l e
.

that one should visualize the abstract .

In the primitive Sanskrit roots are none

for abstract ide a s The student of Ian
.

guag es knows well that the concrete in

language was all for ages To think in .

[ 3 ]
6
 A Pe rfect Memory

abstractions is the final boon i f it b e -

indeed a boon " of evolution to man

,
-

kind Th ere can be no mental picture of

”

.
W
” W W fir m -
Pi m m
M
a
W M r
'M u o- M

an abstract idea Endless space canfiot .

by the b rai n ; infinity

extends beyond r each of th e mental ca me ra .

For this reason i t bec omes a condition ,

precedent for any act of memory that

there should be a concrete i mage i n t h e
‘

mind T h e picture of woW

.
b e
f

in out offe
in the
interp retation " In short the vis ual izat i on ,

IS o ed on the concrete quality of

“conditi n
the thing p ictured In no instance can .

abstractions as such be pictured save , ,

by symbols Therefore no ab s t r act l on by

.
,

It is a fa miliar truth that the act of

setting forth in speech t o another some
idea in the brain sets this idea in a new
orderliness The li ke is true of writing
. .

If everyone were compelled to reduce

hi s fancies to written word s b efore i nfl i ct
[ 4]
6
 The Concrete

ing them on others there would be a much

,

smal ler sum total of idiocies promulgated .

The idea its elf may be a very vague thing ,

but the Written or the spoken word is

immutably concrete ; and it is the concrete
thing that impresses always S uch is the
,
.

explanation of our seeming heartles s ness

m
when we hear of re ote disasters They .

are not concrete to us merely abstra e

—

tions essentially An islan d vanishes from

.

t he China seas ; ten millions are dr owned .

The reading of the paragraph ca b le i n '

the morning paper offers only a mild thrill .

-
agreeable because rather interesting
, .

I am unable to conceive of a nything

‘

more distressing i n I t s verity than canni

b al i sm Yet the fact i n its horror i s so
.
,

remote from the experience of most civilized

persons that refined ladies giggle daintily
over j ests t ha t are bas ed on the theme .

I tested a fin i cal woman once wh o had,

just been vastly amused over some inside

tale of a cannibal chief: I quot ed t o her
the nai ve anecdote related by the author
[ 5]
6
 A Perfect Memory

of the S p oop endy / ee P a er s

p It was .

after his return fr om a V i s i t t o an Indian

encampment .

“
Did you taste any of the dog feas t -

”
stew " a friend asked .

”
“
Yes was the answer while the hu
, ,

mori st s face took on a peculiarly somber

’

cast of re miniscence I tasted it twice ,

“

once when it went down and once — when ,

”
it came up "
And the lady of my experiment had a
qu alm You see that coming up wa s
.
,

something within her own experience some ,

thing c oncrete an actual memory while

, ,

the savage bolting human flesh was some

thing so distant as to serve only for the
fabric of a j est .

In fine onl y the things of experience

,
l

are real to us since they only are concrete :

,

A chil d that has been always healthy

can have no sympathy with pai ri , for it
can have n o understanding The ima .

g i n a t i on ,
which Bishop Butler termed a
delusive faculty can do no more than ,

[ 66 ]
 S u mma r y

To repeat t he foregoing instructions

For p e rfect memory concentrate on a
,

concrete visuali z ation of the thing t o be

remembered .

(Thi s statement is redundant So it .

should be every word is necessary "

-

)
And note t his :
Concentration means the giving of all
’
the mind s attention to the partic ular
s ubj ect under considerati o n to the com,

p i ete exclusion of everything else .

In addition
V isualization means the form i ng of a
clear mental picture of the especial sub
j e ct under consideration .

And :
Conc rete means clearly defined sha rply
, ,

outlined distinctly colored in each and

, ,

every detail of appearan ce as opposed ,

to the unc ertain the vag ue the abstract

, ,

—
i n short to the usual way of the usual
,

person in observing most thing s .

[ 6 8 ]
 P art I V

T h e A sso ci a ti o n o f I de as

ROM the earliest days down

t o the t 1me of Cardinal
Mezzofanti and on from , ,

Macaulay t o Ridpath the ,

association of ideas has held

a domin ant place in the
triumphs of memo ry The reason is sim .

ple Association 18 vital 1n memory Ma n

. .

i
is a gregariou s animal g h e dotes on the
company of fellows e ven whe n he dis
,

likes them . nd his brain cells a re of -

l i ke nature So are ideas They t oo

. .
, ,

a re g reg a r i ou s It is quite impossible for

,
”

’
one idea to p resent itself in the mind s

arena unl es s it bring along with it a train

,
‘

of associated ideas Each individual idea

.

dawning wi thin the brain is like a central

s un around which many other ideas have
,
 A Perfect Memory

their is association of ideas may

have its o r 1g 1n m a variety of circumstances
according to the particular case ; but ,

whatever the in dividual cause the result ,

i s the same : namely that the presence of

,

one of these alliedM ideas tends to bring

Q W M

certain other i deas also into consciousness

"
it Naturall y the i nti nfacy
’ i
i

a .

o relation between one idea and others

may be more or less strong and permanent ,

according to the circumstances of the

case Some grouped ideas will have only
.

a sl i g h t a nd fleeting bond to one another

‘
,

while other groups w ill be firmly and la st

i ng l y j o ined together .

For the purposes of our present study ,

we need not go beyond a consideration of

ideas associated in pairs In the asso
.

c i a t i on of a great number there is ever

,

present the likelihood of an instability in

the inter relation that might prove dis
-

astrous if made the basis of memory .

may be b roadly stated that every

1 ent ering the brain h as a companion
E J
7 O
 The Association of I deas

idea which remains steadfastly in associa

,

tion with its fell ow j i In a whimsical fashion

of their own idea s exhibit a certain con
,

s t a n cy o f a ffection serving to illustrate

,

humbly the ancient fancy concerning love ,

that it lies in the union of the two halves

of one soul Yet while ideas ordinarily
.
,

go in pairs it must not be understood that

,

two is the limit of the company It is .

merely the fact that the association of

the t wo 18 so intimate as to provide a de
pendable union This fact is of vital
.

importance in the mastery of our mental

\

processes s i n ce wh en on e such idea is

,

summoned to consciousness there i nv a r i ,

ably occurs the appearance of its mate

’
.

Such twin ideas are as firmly fastened

together as the boy and the steer of the
story .

An ambitious Texas lad thought he

might be able to do the ploughing by yok
ing himself with a wild steer He did s o. .

The resul t was beyond his expectations

—"
far be y ond them The steer instantly .

[ 7 1 ]
 [

A Perfect Memory

ran away Since the steer was the stronger

.
,

the boy perforce ran with it The two .

charged down the main street of a neigh

boring town Tears of rage and morti
.

ficat i on poured from the lad s eyes as he

’

yelled
Here we come "darn our fool souls "
”
Somebody head us off "
Now to e ffect such a union of two ideas
, ,

they must be mentally photographed at

the same time and too in conjunction
, , ,

so close that t he pair is visible as one in

the picture If this be don e properly
.
,

the summoning of either by the will brings

with it the other .

The usefulness in relation to good m cm l

ory is ea s ily apparent S uppo se for exam ’

-
. e
,

ple that there is something we need to

,

remember in connection with a certain

person on our next meeting with him .

For the purp ose of illustration let this ,

something be the borrowing of an umbr ella

—
thoug h many owners of that useful
instr ument may deem the sugge stion al
[7 ]2
 The As sociation of I deas

most immoral To make sure the matter

.

will be remembered at the p roper time ,

we mu3 t concentrate for a moment or two

on a V l s ual i z at i on of the gen tleman from

whom the favor is t o be sought In thi s .

picture he must appe ar with an umbrella

,

as a canopy ov er his head This mental .

picture must be sharply drawn under the

urge of will The union of the man s
.
’

face and the umbrella must be made so

intimate that the recall ing of the o ne will
n ecessaril y bring the other into view If .

we em p ty the brain of all other thoughts

for a few seconds and contemplate t h e,

imagin ary picture intently then on our , ,

first meet i ng w1t h the friend in q uestion ,

(

that picture will instantly rise before the

’
mind s eye with the canopied umbrella
,

looming large as a reminder of our resolve

t o s e c ure it . N o step in the process offers
any diffi culty i f the operation be carried
,

on with d ue attentiveness If concen .

t r at i on be employed i n the concret e visu

al i z at i on th er e can b e no failur e of memory

,

[ 73 ]
 A Perfect Memory

in such case Afte rward the picture will

.
,

gradually vanish from out the mind leav ,

ing no useless lumber of brain cells For -

.

these mental pictures of a casual sort

are like the first proofs secured from a
negative T he mental positive must be
.

fixed by repetition of which I shall have

,

more to s ay later on .

This simple expedient of pairing i de as

in order to secure the benefits of the law
of association is capable of an almost
infinite var iety of adaptations Since it is .

a method n atural to the m1nd its simplicity

,

is vastly in its favor One does this

.

pa 1r 1ng automatically in the brain The .

me thod is instinctive The good memory

.

makes the visualization vivid The poor .

memo ry must be aided in the work by

the authority of the will in directing th at
the picture be limned clearly and con
s i d e re d with scrutiny thus t o be
,

ls waste their energy i n

tion on the des i re t o remem
[ 74 ]
 A P erfect Memory

necessary to ship a box b y express in the

morning without a moment of delay
, .

If we form a mental picture of the b ox

resting U pon the breakfast table We b e -
,

come assured of remembering the duty

a t the proper time It requires only that
g .

i we should concentrate on a concrete visu

a l i z at i on of the box on the breakfast

t ab l e f There need be n o scruple as to
‘

the farcical nature of t h e mental rep re

s en t at 1on T h e ludi c rous is readily remem
.
w
fi

bered by almost all persons a nd for that ,

reason an absurd combi nat 1on is to be

“

encouraged since it tends of itself to make

,

the picture distinct Let the eggs be .

fearfully smeared over the parc el i f y ou ,

will If small enough thrust it deep into

.
,

the marmalade j ar or let it float on your

,

coffee O nly be sure th at you have the

.
,

ex act image of the combination photo .

graphed on the bram Then if one of ,

the things in the representation be an

inevitable adjunct of the breakfast table -
,

you will be mentally served on i t s ap pear

[7 ] 6
 The Association of Ideas

ance with i t s corollary -

the parcel to
be sent by exp ress " So simple is
the sure method of re calling to mind a
t hing t o be done at a certain tim e a ” .

I give no other i l l us t r at l on of t lfge p r act i

cal application of this p rinciple for t h e ,

reason th at a variety of examples is un

n ecess ary I f any student need reinforce
‘

ment of understanding as to the method ,

let him read over the single instance set

forth by me as to the parcel to be sent by
CX p I C S S
’

He need not concern himse lf

.

eve n w1t h the umbrella incident Let hi m .

meditate on the essential truths there

set fort h These are that he must form
.

a mental p icture in which the thing to

be remembered i s concretely associated
with a place in which he is s ure t o be at
the time when the thing should be remem
bered Most of us have a definite routine
.

in our lives such that at a certain time we

,

shall be in a certain place and of that ,

place we have an exact picture in imagina

tion So at the time when the thing
.
,

[ 77 ]
 A Perfect Memory

should be remembe red the surroundings

,

then should form with the thing the pair

l n the associated photographing of ideas
on the brain cells That much done Th e
.
,

laws of memory will do the rest and y ou ,

will remember .

"

T T h e artificial system helps little

‘

This .

system is natural fol l owmg the actual

,

continuous op erat 1on of the mind The .

artificial system is the tying of a string

around the finger whi ch d eclares p ere p
, , m
to ri l y that something must be done but ,

contains no least hint the actuality

of that particular ere is indee d , ,

a dreadful story of a man who exhibited

s uc h a reminder twisted about his d i git

by a fond spouse He was in a condition

.

of abj ect terror and the friends who came

,

on him late at night in the city were cur i i

ous . He explained that his wife had told

him something of great importance to do ,

and to insure his obedience had tied the

string around his finger He could not .
,

to save his life remember what the thing

,
-

[7 ] 8
 The Association of Ide as

was . There was the string " The thing

must be done until then he dared not ,

return t o the peaceful suburban com

munity that boasted him its o wn .

And the next night the same friends met ,

him again in a state that was deplorable

, .

”
“
Haven t y ou remembered yet " they
’

demanded in sympathetic alarm over his

,

plight .

“ ’
Yes I ve remembered the man said
, , ,

miserabl y .

’
Then why on earth don t you go home i
,

The victim of a memo ry system groaned .

“ ”
’
I don t dast go home he confessed , .

Wh at my wi fe t i e d that dinge d string

around my finger for was t o make me
”
remember to come home early "
Emp h a s me this fact again and again
The thing to do is to concentrate on the
obj ect t o be remembered in as sociation ,

with the place wherein it should be remem

bered I t avails nought save weariness
.
,

of spirit to have i t hammering on con

,

s ci ous ness that something should be re

[ 79 ]
 A Perfect Memory

memb ered The lyre bird m

j ight as well
have l ts musical appearing tail spelled as
-
-

the ugly w ord if it should hope to keep

,

p ro n ns e s by kinks p ut in t he feathers o f -r

that gorgeou s appendage They would .

make the bird strive to remember of course ; ,

but they would help not at all toward

the precise memory of the thing itself .

I employed that illustration for the

s uffi cient reason that my small knowledge

of O rnithology suggested the lyre bird as -

possessing the largest tail of which I had

cognizance and therefore the best for
,

such mnemonic practises as tying strings

on the digits or making knots in the tail
,

itself And that has been do

. the
dogs -
at leas t in a cartoon
,
once .

saw a picture of a d achshund and a terrie r

engaged in friendly dialogue of which ,

t h e substance was this .

The terrier regarded his friend with

much astonishment .

” ’
“
Why ,
he exclaimed you ve got a
,
”
knot tied in your tail "
[ 8 0 ]
 The Association of Ideas

The dachshund explained ea sily almost

,

with pride over this unus ual coiffure of

his c audal a ppendage .

“
My wife gave me an errand t o do ,

he vouchsafed ,
and just tied this k not
“

in my tail to make me remember .

The terrier wagged his stub sadly .

“ ” “ ’
I guess,
he muttered ,
that s what
make s me
 Pa r t V
Me mo rl z l n g a L i st

T is practical to employ
the pa iring of two obj ects
in a single p 1ct ure in order
to fixi n memory any list
of things when the number
,

is three or more A list .

of errands ,
or the hea ds of a speech or ,

the routine of a day can be thus com

,

mi t t e d to memo ry surely and too with , ,

surprising quickness I n such memori z

.

ing if d ue concentration be employed

, ,

the mere enumeration of the list of things

to be remembered will be su fficient That .

is assuredly very simple It is only neces

.

sary that the list of things to be done

should be gone over But in this case for
.
,

the ins urance of a perfe ct memory the ,

enumeratio n mus t b e a vis na i n each

'
 A Perfect Memory
”

ment e x clude all thought of oth er thing s

, ,

and for a moment give the whole attentio n

, ,

of the mind to contemplation of fi ns pi c

ture proj ected within the brain by ima

g i n a t i on Then
. immediately ,
after taking
this snap shot withdraw
-
the
,
exposed plate
’
from the mind s camera and substitute ,

for it a fresh one which is to receive the

,

impression of a second imaginary picture .

This second picture must be composed

in its turn of the second object from t he
first picture in conjunction with t h e third
,

obj ect m the list of e rrands to be remem

bered The first obj ec t in the list is now
.
-

not considered at all ; only the second

a n d third are held before the m1nd to be

photograp hed together Afterward the

.
,

third and the fourth obj ects are j oined

s i milarly by the imagination and the mind ,

is concentrated in visualization of them ‘

.

Next the fourth and the fifth are asso

,
’

c i at e d i n a single pictu re ; and following ,

these , come lastly t h e fifth and the sixth .

Now if all this b e done with due attention

,

[ 4]
8
 Memoriz ing a L i st

to the s uccessive phases of the task it ,

will be found that the law of ass ociation

ruling such mental pictu res will wor k to
effect a perfect memory of the entire l ist
m 1t s order Instantly when the first
.
,

object is recalled by an act of will the ,

second a ppears along with it in the picture

that has been formed Then when this
.
,

picture is dismissed from the view the

second obj ect alone is summoned where ,

upon immediately with i t is seen the

, ,

third obj ect just as the mind had pict ured

,

the two together in the preparation The .

like result follow s in the case of all the

“

other items in the list of things to be

remembered .

Some one may suggest that a faulty

memory could fail to recollect even the
first obj ect in the list and argue that
, ,

without this memory as a starting point

‘

the whole scheme of memor1z at 1on 1n this ’

instance breaks down As a matter of

.

fact however the chances are vastly i n

, ,
’
favor of even the worst memory s recalling
[ 5]
8
 A P erfect Memory

the first th i ng in t h e list But should

.
,

there be failure i n this particular it is

\
,

readily offset by beginning at any other

point in the list If the memo ry be so
.

wretchedly incompeten t as to fail in recol

le eting on e from a list of six items then , ,

indeed the method here ex

, p 101t e d would
prove of no avail In such case pencil
.
,

and paper would seem to offer the only

available substitute for memory although ,

even then there might be grave risk lest

at any moment the a ffl icted person might
totally forget all his letters and therefore
,

be unab le to write down a single word or

read any already written .

A little reflection will show that i n this

method the complete list can b e recol
l ect ed by beginning with any obj ect from
th e set ,
provided always that pains be
taken as the final step in the memor1z mg
to form a mental picture of the sixth obj ect
in conjunction with the first Thus an .
,

endless chain is established Beginning

x
.

at the fifth obj ect for ex ampl e the si th

, ,

[ 8 6 ]
 Memorizing a Li st

a p pears on the in stant in association with

it Then when the sixth is m

.
,
entally
surveyed the first is revealed along with
,

1t ,
1n turn A look at the picture of thi s
.

first obj ect shows it together wit h the

second In such fashion the whole list
.
,

is faithfully prese rved 1n memory It will .

be apparent on con s i der at l on th at the list

of ob je cts will always be presented l n
sequence either forward or backward for
, ,

the law of associ ation carries the pairing

of the o b j ects with equal readiness in e ither

direction That is to say the fourth has

.
,

the fifth followmg it on the r i ght in the

mental picture if the impul se be in that
,

d i re ct l on but it has the third obj ect pre

,

ceding i t in anothe r mental picture under

an impul s e of movement i n t h e co ntrary
direction Whichever way our will bids
.

the series of pictures to unfold in that ,

direction the mental scroll will duly unroll ,

displaying t h e exact order of pairs , in

the relation established by the original
acts of attentive visualization .
 A Perfect Memory

None the less I am constrained to p oint

,

o ut t o the student the single element of

danger in this simple method o f quick

memorizing The whole chain is no
.

stronger than i t s weakest link This flaw .

of the system is well illustrated in connec

tion with the matter of extempor aneous

speaki ng It is a very simple thing for
.

a speaker in preparing his remarks in a d

vance to fix on some concrete head rep t e
se nt a t i v e of each divisi on in the speech ,

and to associate these respectively in the

fashion explained above He might for
.
,

example have fifteen po ints that he d esired

,

to remember for his disco urse He could .

pair the first with the second vis ualize ,

the p 1ct ure dismiss it from his mi nd pair

, ,

the second with the third visualize it,

in turn and proc eed after the like man ner

,

throughout the list of fifteen points and ,

thus memorize t h e heads of his speech in

m
less time than it would t ake him to writ e
”

the separate ite s on a piece of p aper .

There remains onl y th e possibilit y that,

[ 8 8 ]
 Memoriz ing a List

through carelessness l n form i ng the mental

pictures somewh ere might come a break
,
,

In that event after finishing h i s remarks

,

under the seventh division for e x ample , ,

the speaker might when he called up seve n

,

in picture form find that only a blan k fol

lowed after it in his mi nd that the obj ect
,

representing the eig hth head of his dis

co urse remained invisible Of course the
.
,

explanation must always be that he failed

in his preparation to concentrate properly
on a concrete visualization of s even and

eight in conjunction He meant to do

.

so doubtless b ut as certainly he did not

, , , , .

Had he concentrated duly there would ,

have b een no fail ure for the law of mental

,

operation is unvarying The simplest and

.
, ,

indeed t h e only way in whi ch to avoid such

,

d isa ster is s o t o cultivate concen t ration

,

and concrete visualiz ation that one cannot

deceive himself by thinking he is contem
plating with attentio n a sharply defined
mental picture when as a matter of fact he
, , ,

is s tari ng dully at a vi s ion d i m and blurred .

[ 9]
8
 A Perfect Memory

The student after a little exercise in

,

this pairing of obj ects in sequence as ,

explained above i n connection with the

list of errands must find for himself t he
,

applicability of the process in a multitude

of ways wherein the method will prove

pleasing in it self and the result especially

,

gratifying in t h e matter of securing accu

rate memory .

To illustrate my point as to the diversity

of uses :

Take a book that you are desiro us of

reading carefully with a V iew to assimilat
,

i ng l ts contents rather than merely secur

,

ing a fleeting entertainment At t h e end .

of the first chapter pause to consider the

,

subj ect matter therein contained This .

must be done with thoughtful care going ,

over the things set forth examining their,

inter relations an d the whole e ffect gen

-
, ,

e r al l y and in detail Finally determine

.
,

ely the dominant thought of the

bh a p t er and set this as the central sun
,

in your mental heavens around which ,

[9 ] 0
 A P erfect Memory

At the end of the third chapter the ,

pre p aration must be the same with the ,

choosing of a fitting symbol to be con ,

s i d ere d in connection with the details o f

the author s ideas m the chapter After
’
.

due concentration the second symbol and

,

the third should be placed together by the

power of imagination and mentally photo
,

graphed i n their union P roceed mg 1n

.

similar fas hion t o the end of the volum e ,

you will find that on s ummoning th e first

,

symbol to memory a considerable bulk

,
’
of the a uthor s thought in t h e first chapter

is aut omat l cally brought into conscious

ness along with the symbol vastly more
-

,
’
indeed of the author s thought than would
,

have been the case had you read and pon e

dered in the usual sli pshod manner of

readers even ambitious ones Presently
,
.
,

t oo
,
as the will commands the mental,

picture changes to that of the first symbol

and the second in clo se alliance Then .
,

as the first symbol is shut out from the

mental scene by an act of volition the ,

[9 ]2
 Memorizing a List

second symbol reigns over its clustering

subj ect ideas wherein are recalled the
,
’
author s thoughts in his second chapter .

The same th i ng occurs in refere nce to the

third chapter and then successively with
,

the others in serene order affording thus

,

a ple asure made exquisite by the sense

of mental mastery . In fine you will find
,

that your brain has stored the principal

“

contents of th e volume in scholarly se

q ue n c
,
e and th at this sequence is readi l y
at th e command of the will since i n
-

suc h instance the memory has been made

str ong by directing it according to those
laws of its best operation by which alone
,

success i s to be attained .
 P ar t V I

A v oi d a n c e o f th e A b st r a c t

T is distinctive of the human

brain that it demand s the ’

concrete incessantly for its

operations We think in
.

terms of three dimensions .

Length breadth and thick

,

ness are the limitations of our minds i n the

survey of all things We may assert that
.

this plane of being is a three dimensional-

plane It is perfe ctly l og 1cal to believe in a

.

fourth dimension but of such a fourth di

,

men s i on we know literally nothing despite ,

the pretentious vaporings of o ccultists a nd

the ain us i ng vagaries of the humorou s
writers of fiction A thing is popularly de
.

scribed as entering the fourth di me nsion

when i t becomes imperc eptible to any of our
senses It no longer has length or breadth
.

[ 94 ]
 Avoidance of the Ab stract

or thic kness by which our sense of sight or

touch may verify its being To our se nses
.

it has ceased t o be since without length or

,

breadth or thickness there is nothing by

which we may test the fact of its existence .

Note well the truth : without such d i men

sions nothing is actual to us not h l ng 1s r eal
, .

We may theorize as to many things but ,

only those possessed of the three properties

are of a sort to demonstrate themselves to
us as verities. And that means the con
crete the visible the tangible obj ects wh i ch
, , ,

give p rec1se sensation to us by the medium

of contact through our organs of sense

Even when in the evolution of ages

, ,

man h as come to some measure of power

in the consideration of abstractions as such ,

he is nevertheless still compelled to have

, ,

recourse constantly to concret e things as the

symbols of such abstract thoughts Our .

whole language is based on the concrete

symbols of alp h abet soun ds and without
,

these we should be wholly unable to formu

late any t hou g ht whatsoever either for ,

E9 S J
 A Perfect Memory

personal meditatio n or for 1nt er communi ca

tion with our fellows as to the v a rl ous events
of life and their significance Originally
.
,

t h e letters were pictu res but as the r ace

, ,

developed under the mighty urg e of its own

adv ancement toward the heights of being ,

the pictu res bec ame gradually eliminated

a s unnecessary and the modified forms of
,

the letters remained as the sole concrete

symbols of particul ar sounds in speech as ,

thei r visual interp reters 1n writing .

In their origins fig ures too were con

, , ,

crete t h ings Thus in the Roman numeral

.
, ,

III the three things enum erated by the

,

character are pate ntly displaye d by the

corresponding n umber of vertical lines .

The like is true of the other numerals U p to

five and th at is an obvious device of com
,

bining all of the predecessors for the new

number .The ent 1re system is readily
u nderstood on ex ammat l on a n d analysis ,

since it is fundamentally concrete in its

sources The Arabic notation however
.
, ,

tended more sw1ftl y toward the abstract ,

[9 ]
6
 Avoidance of the Abstract

or arbitrary in the nature of its numerical

,

ex m F example the fig re
m
p re s s n o r . u 3 ,

does not now display the nu ber of obj ects

enumerated in a visible equivalent form as ,

did the Roman character In the Roman .

system the letter that represented a hun

,

dred was the initial letter of the word mean

ing a hundred in the Latin language It .

was in fact m erely an abbreviation T he

, ,
.

like use was followed in the choice of the

sign for a thousand M Obviously the ,
.
,

Arabic method in its recent form is th e more

artificial of the two systems of enumeration ,

even while it i sth e more expeditious and the

simpler after i t has once been mastered .

Unfortunately for t h e purposes of mem

ory either system of figures is a device t oo
,

arbitr arily s ymbolic so far as it concerns ,

mental imagery or vi sti al i z at i on of the ,

concrete I nthe strict employment of the

.

terms it is of course true that each of the

‘

, , ,

integers whether Arabic or Roman is a

, ,

concrete obj ect as printed or otherwise rep

resented B ut in so far as we are concerned
"

.
,

E9 7 ]
 A Pe rfect Memory

with them in the study of memory they are ,

purely abstract To the art of memory

.
,

t h e figures employed are abstraction s in

their vagueness There have been af i d
.
,

are rare minds capable of remembering

,

various combinations of figures with a

scrupulous exactness But such minds are
.

a bnormal . I n almost every instance the ,

possession of these unusual powers has been

‘

accompanied by mental i nep t 1t ud e in other

dire ctions The faculty is in fine of a
.
, ,

freakish sort and not to be desired by any

,

Sensible p e rson .Therefore the ordinary

,

normal man however ambitious to excel in

,

skill of memory need not regard himself as

,

unduly affl icted if he does not readily

remember long lists of figures or hold ,

persistently in his mind the appalling array

of dates set forth in a uni ver s al chronology .

I f his brain be normal he 1s sure to ex

, p e r

i e n ce many and constant di fficulties in such

tedious memorizing of things that are
essentially abstractions since it is by no
,

means natural to t h e mind t o fix arbitrary

E9 ]8
 A Perfect Memo ry

of change is simply the elimination com

p l e t e l y o f the unsatisfactory numerals con
cerne d and t h e subsequent replacing of
,

them i n e ffect by other symbols which are

,

insistently concrete in acco rdance with the

demands of a ready and enduring memory .

The selected alternatives given by me are

in th emselves purely arbitrary and for that
,

reason they may be modified according to

t h e pleasure of any individual taste . But
each and every one of these new numerical
symbols is of a character adapted to swift
and sure v1s ual i z at i on by the imagination ,

a n d therefore suitable to availability in

memory The virtue of t he arrangement
.

c onsists in the fact that each obj ect here

taking t h e place of an Arabic numeral is of

a kind that produces in the mind a definite
and distinctive picture which the ment al
,

camera can record perfectly in the twinkling

of an eye ,
securing without diffi culty a
p erm a nen t pl ate'
fo i the use of memory,

one wholly d istinctive and not to be con

fused with any of i ts fellows

[ 1 00 ]
 Avoidance o f the Abs tract

In the carrying out of the method here

indicated it becomes ne cessary in the first
,

place to prepare a list of consonants arbi

t ra r i l y chosen according to t h e dictates of

convenienc e as established by ex p e rl me nt .

In this numerical system for t h e a i d i ng of

memory the conson a nts are employed in
,

lie u of the ord inary figures the places of ,

which they take in a manner to be e x plaine d

foft h wi t h. T he following list of con
so nan ts is offered as supplying the places of
the ordinary integers .

I equals t or d ;
,
( C
2 n ;

3 m;
4 r ;

5 l;
6 j ,
9, or 5 1
or 6 1 9 ;

7 g, or k, or ng ;
8 f ,
or

9 p, or b ,

o s .

The intelligent student on scanning this ,

list will prob ably at once raise the point

,

[ 1 0 1 ]
 A Perfect Memo ry

that the letters offered as substitutes for

the ordinary Arabi c or Roman numerals
are themselves quite as arbitrarily symbolic
and practically abstract in nature as are th e
common figure s themselves The i neV 1t .

able co nclusion then must be that thes e

, ,

new contrivances will present the like d i fli

cul t i es in the matter of being memorized

easily and surely The contention wo uld

.

be quite j ust if
,
the change were to cease
at this stage As a matter of fact however
.
, ,

this is only the initial step in the work of

substituting the con crete for the abstract .

Happily for our purpose there is to be ,

evolved a vital difference caused by the ,

next proced ure in the alteration For .

,

now we combine with the consonants thus

,

suggested as equivalents for the ordinary

numerals and it should be observed that
only consonants are embodied in my list
-
certain vowels as may be necessary to
,

form words with care however to employ

, ,

no other consonant in the particular word .

Thus i t 13 a most simple matter to form

,

[ 1 02 ]
 A Perfect Memory

Next in this system of substitution we

, ,

consider the n which is o ffered to serve in

,

lieu of the figure 2 Here the aspirate b

.
,

and the vowel e afford an advantageous

prefix for the formation of an adequate
word containing the required consonant .

By so simple a device we become possessed

,

o f the word ban to be employed as a con

,

crete object representing the number 2 .

Of this familiar obj ect a ban as in the

’

, ,

former c ase of a but the mind is capable of

,

taking a picture for the purposes of memory

both instantly and ex actly and such picture
,

will have suffi cient powers of endur ance .

C ont 1numg the method in reference

to the remaining integers and z ero we ,

obtain finally the complete list

, ,

H ut equals I f
H en 2

H am 3 ;
4
 Avoid a nce of the Abstract

H i ve equals 8
H oop
( s

In making use of these arbitrary signs ,

it must be remembered that a doubled con

s onant without inte rvening vowels counts
, ,

always only as th e single figure Thus .

,

egg might be used as the equivalent of 7 ,

but never as the equivalent of 77 which ,

might however be shown by g a g or g i g

, , , ,

o r g a ng and the like since in such word s a

, ,

vowel separates t h e consonants represe nt

ing the t wo sevens .

The ingenuity of the stude nt will find

satisfaction in further combining t hese
”
first ten signs in such man ner as to form the
substitutes corresponding to larger numbers .

Here are illustrations of t h e fash i on in

which to continue t h e construction of words
representing group s of figures .

Toes equals 10 ; (t standing for I and s ,

for 0 while the vowels

,

have no numerical
value whatever)
[ 5]
1 0
A Perfect Memory

(
t and 61 each standing
for
) 1

(or d i me , or Da n e,
and the
like according to t asf e)
,

( or d w
o n and
,
the like )
( or tow e r and
,
the like )
(
. o r d a l e o
,
r ta i l and the
,

like )
( the t being s i lent and ,

therefore entirely dis

regarded or dish and , ,

the like )
( or w ed d i n g m which ,
the
two d s c o unt only as a
’

s 1ng l e I the ng sepa

,
’
rated from the d s by a
vowel represent i ng the
7)
( or any satisfactory wo rd
with the li ke order of
consonants separated
by a vowel )
( or any word thus con
s onant e d)
 A Perfect Memory

has been c omp leted it will b e found avail

,

able for almost constant use in a variety of

ways astonish i ngly large and of splendid
,

e ffi ciency in its masterful control of th e

memory I t can be made to serve as a per
.

manent frame into which all lis ts of things

,

for recollection may be slipped with as

surance of their availability For example
.
,

in preparing a list of errands instead of ,

associating the first thing to be remembered

with the second then the seco nd with the
,

third and so on to the end , following the

,

m a nner hitherto set forth in relation to

the a s sociation of ideas th e student may
,

now concentrate on a visuali z ation of t h e

first thi ng to be remembered in as soc1at l on

with the concrete obj ect but which stands
, ,

as t he permanent symbol of the figure I .

When this picture of a but with the first

,

obj ect to be remembered appearing boldly in

the O pen front of i t has bee n photographed
,

by the brain there can be no slightest

,

difficulty afterward at any time in recollect

ing what was the first one in th e li st of
[ 1 08 ]
 Avoidance of the Abst ract

errands which it was thus sought to mem

,

orize Immediately on calling for n umber

.
,

one of the list from mem o ry the image of ,

t he but is recalled and along with it is

,

inevitably shown the concrete obj ect that

represents the first errand to be exec ut e d .

In like manner the sec ond errand is visual

,

i z e d in conjunction with a hen which se r ves ,

as the a rbitrary symbol for the figure 2 .

So it results very easily and completely

that any list may be quickly set withi n
this permanent frame of symbols for the
figures It is altogether feasible to do this
.

’
at a moment s notice since this l i st of
,

concrete symbols for the i ntegers is fixed

already in the me mory Whatever may
"

be associated with it will reappear in mem

,

ory whenever the set a rray of nume r i cal

s y mbols is summoned to memory The .

recollection will be perfect in every case ,

without the possibility of hesitation in the

act of mem ory without the possibility of
,

error in any instance i ndividually or of la ck ,

in the sum total of the whole list

 A Perfect Memory

A little shrewd consideration of the

possibilities involved will serve to convince
any eager student that the a vailability
of this simple sy stem of guiding the memofy

is almost limitless It is applicable in

.

memorizing the items of a speech to be

delivered without notes It will be re .

membered that in the S imple association of

ideas for this purpose there lurked ever a
,

peril of forgetfulness since by that method

, ,

the chain being no stronger than its weakest

link there was the possibility that the con
,

cent ration might not have been properly

:

e ffective in some one instance with the

result that there might come a sudden
hiatus by which when th e speaker would
proceed from his seventh head to his eighth
he would find h rms el f confronted with a
blank wall whereon would be written no
,

symbol to suggest his eighth topic in the

discourse So it is apparent that in this
.
,

fixed list for memorizing there will be found

safety The speaker might fail in his con
.

centration made in the home aforetime ,

[ n o ]
 A Perfect Memory

your notes i n relation to the fixed list since , ,

if b y any cha nce your preparatory con

, ,

centration was lacking in an individual head ,

you are able to rely on the next You can .

not forget the fixed list since however , ,

tric ky the memo ry a reference to the con

,

sonants that represent the figures must be

su ffi cient to recall the words standing for
the concrete symbols and when the symbol
,

is recalled it w i ll bring with it the associated

conc rete thing h aving to do with the dis
cour se It i s q uite i mpossible that there
co uld be more than one failure in a con
s ci ent i ous preparation of a lecture or after ,
’
dinner talk or a sermon or a l awyer s
, ,

plea or a prize oration if the method here

, ,

indicated be followed with intelligent thor

oug h n e ss .

The thoughtful st udent will realize also , ,

that this same simple pl an is applicable i n

setting it to remember the chapters of a
book If a reversion be made to the
.

me thod formerly employed it will be found ,

that there was always a de p endence on the

[ 1 1 2 ]
 Avoidance of the Ab sffact

inter relation of the two chapters paired

-
,

with the consequence of a disastrous possi

b i li t y as to the weakest link in the chain ,

just as in reference to the matter of a rrang

ing the various he ads i n a speech Here .
,

then is a situation in which the careful

,

stude nt should use his own judgment Will .

he prefer t o use the simple association of

ideas i n connection with this one particular
book without reference to the convenient
,

method offered by the fixed list or will he ,

prefer to set in memory this book without

the aid of extraneous artificial props "
Of c ourse you guess my sentiment in the
,

matter T he st udent should make the

.

b ook a u nit in memory

z
'
He should dis
.

r egard the fixed list in order so t o con ce n

,

trate on ea ch detail of the memory that there

‘

would be remembrance in which the ,

methods of a fixed list for convenience could

play no essential p art .

The sequence of lines in a poem is equally

simple as a matter of memory under this
syst em of V i sualiz ation by the concrete .

[ 3 ]
1 1
 A Perfect Memory

So too as has been indicated the

, , ,

order of paragraphs m a set oration .

Indeed there is practically no limit to the

,

extent and the variety of the p urp ose s to

which this method may be adapted and
applied with the happiest results of e fficacy .

The preliminary e ffort of learni ng the list

of purely arbitrary substitutions becomes
as nothing when the value of i t is fully
understood The method takes advantage
.

of the natural aptitude of the mind and , ,

through it p rovides a means whereby the

,

memory is perfected in its workings over

wide regions where before it was most at
fault.

The stu d ent should at once familiarize

himself with the ten consonants employe d
as s igns for the figures and make them
,

as ready and sure l n his memory as are

now the ordinary Arabic charact ers The .

task will not prove at all di ffi cult Then

.
,

once the ten c onsonants are thus fully

mastered the learning of the fixed list of
,

selected words containing them offer s very

[ 4]
H
 A Perfect Memory

burdensome and baneful .Such we i rd

weaving of ideas makes merely mental
lumber They waste energy most dis
.

t re s s i ng l y and in return do but set the br a n

,

in disorder . C oncentration on visu

al i z at i on of the concrete is and must remain
, ,

the sole resort of the successful memory ,

’
since it is the precise following of nature s
own system of op eration .
 P art V I I

C o n c e r ni n g D a te s

N
the matter of r emembering
dates the best help must
,

lie in concentration on
something symbolizing the
fact to be re embered in m ,

combination with a w ord or

words representing concrete obj ect or ob
j e c
,
t s in which the only consonants em
ployed are tho se that show the require d
figures This manner of work may seem
.
/

cumbersome from the way in which I have

j ust described it but in reality th e O pera
, , ,

tion is of a sort to afford an agreeable inter

est i n the do i ng of it and it is extre mely
,

easy in its every particular and very simple

’

as well With a little exp erience one learns

.
,

t o use this device for the aid of memory in

most instances nearly if not quite as, ,

[ 7]
1 1
 A Perfect Memory

quickly as one c ould write down the par

t i cul ar date with a pencil The principle
.

involved is th at which is now I hope , ,

familiar to the student of this treati se

the association of ideas induced by con
“

centration on concrete visualizations But .

the mos t satisfactory fashion of explanation

must be by the use of an illustration which
shall set forth the specific steps l n the process .

L et us then take for example the dis

, , ,

c ov e ry of America by Columbus in 149 2 ,

.

From the schooldays of all of us there .

su r vives a memory of the pictur es of that

indefatigable explorer and in this case the
,

picture is certainly vivid enough to serve

our purpose as a concrete obj ect on which

to concentrate in the visualization nec e ssary

for this act of memory There is one .

e s p ea a l l y familiar picture which shows the

voyager on board ship which is probably

,

known to each of my readers Let this be .

selected i f you please Fix on the voyager

,
.
,

then as the first obj ect to be regarded in

,

form i ng the group for the mental p hoto

[ 1 1 8 ]
 A Perfe ct Memory

various consonants that interpret the figures

of t h e A rabic code . Forthwith we must ,

exercise our faculty of invention i n the

construction of a word or words th at sh all
contain only t h e consonants corresponding
to this number 149 2 whatever may be
, ,

the vowels included or the aspirate or the

, ,

w or y
,
. The consonants of such vital
importance t o our scheme it must be ,

re m embered are t or d r p or b and n

, , , , , ,
.

My own ingenuity is little strained for , ,

though this the first time that I ever co n

s i d er e d this par ticular date in such wise ,

the letters instantly suggest the word tur

ban That s ingle word is enough an d it
.
,

will serve capitally s 1nc c i t permits an

,

intimate association with a man in the ,

manner that is necessary for establish ing

th e group e ffect for the mental camera to
[

record in its picture form So for the next

.
,

procedure in our cont rol of memory l et us ,

swathe the brow of Columbus in a turb a n .

Let it be a turban truly imposing one of a ,

magnitude and a richness for the most

[ 1 2 0 ]
 Concerning Dates

lu xurious of maharaj ahs The e ffort of

“

imaginati on will tend to form a really con

crete image in the mind and such exactness,

is necessary as I must always insist for the

, ,

proper d irection of the memory Thus .

,

we have ready our concrete Columbus ; ”

.

about h i s b row is a very concrete turban .

There is the picture on which concentration

must be made . That concentration
properly effected the process is complete
, .

Eve r afte rward the memory as to the year

,

i n which occurred the discovery of America

by Columbus will be s ure Whenever one .

thinks of the d iscovery of America he ,

think s nececes s ar i ly of Christop her Colum

b us. That is a pr i mi ti ve nece ss i t y from the ‘

law as t o the a ssoc1at l on of ideas Now .

,

m
as the consequence of our adaptation of that
sa e l aw by an artificial device t h e image ,

of Col umbus appears with the head garbed

in the ornate turban Again i t is the opera
.
,

t i on of the law as to the association of ideas

j

only
«
in this
, l atter 1n s t a nce the working of ,

the law is artfully directed by our own voli

[ 1 2 1 ]
 A Perfe ct Memory

t lon When we unfold that turban we do

.

not find within its fabric the j ewels of the

Gaekwar of B aroda though We have fash
,

i on e d it to be as gorgeous as any worn by

that most sybaritical o f potentates But .

we do find something more precious to us

than j ewels : the fact we would retain in
memory the year 149 2 wrapped within
—
, ,

the consonants t r b n The ability to

, , , ,
.

store things with precision in memory in such

fashion as to have them always instantly
available is better than the bits of shining
stone since they increase the actual stature
,

of the man which is something beyond the

,

power of th e fl awed and ill cut gems which -

the low cas te Gaekwar loves so dearly

-
.

simple performance of a mental act

th e control of will means much It .

e s the development of the mind under

ous control which is the supreme

,

ion offered to man by his Creator ,

though few ava l l themselves of the gift that

separates the m so tremendously from the
brutes .
 A Perfect Memory
is much like the rest of us : it likes its quota
of pleasurable excitement is pro ne to balk
,

over the tame task It is obvious that the

.

task should be so fashioned as to be of

"

interest in itself Concentration depends

.

on inter est Tha t is a basic truth Any

. .

work i n which one feels interest is p l e asur

able Without interest work is a tedium
.
, ,

a torment " In this matter of memorizing ,

there comes an anomaly in witness of this

truth . Suppose you search in vain for
some combination of consonan ts woven into
a wo rd to fit a required date Never mind . .

You will remember the date In that con .

‘

centration over the unsucc e ssful e ffor t there ,

is precisely the s t 1mul us fo r work required

by the brain and the brain responds s p l en
,
s

d i dl y so that the memory will be assured

/
.
,

The groping in vain if earnest and con

,

t i nue d means of itself concentration and

, ,

that concentration will insure memory per

fe ct in that particular instance at least ,
.

In that elaboration of the artificial mem

o ry which 1 h ave earlier in this book co n

[ 4]
1 2
 Concerning Dates

d emn e d as futile e fforts are frantically

,

made toward the devising of some connec

tion between t hings by means of simil arities
in sound or by su p erficial similarities in
,

sen se Alas "the vital p omt l n such con

.

n e ct i ons is forever esc a ping the memory ,

which requires as its prime force exactness .

There h as been no visualization of the

concrete after the fashion essential to the
,

pro per working of the mind for recollection .

In consequen ce the memory must be un

,

certain at best totally inoperative at worst

, .

The single met hod to be employed succe ss

fully is and must always be in this stage of
,
[

human development that of visualization

,

of the c oncrete under the law of association .

In it the relation or the lack of natural

, ,

re l ation between the two obj ects t o be

,

paired in the mental view is of no importance

at all save as it may concern the vividness
,

of the 1magi n at i on s picture in the posing of

’

the obj ects for the m i nd s camera Ri d i cu’

.

lous combinations are indeed welc ome , , ,

inasmuch a s an outr ag eous juxtaposition of

[ 5]
1 2
 A Perfect Memory

two inconsistent obj ects is well calculated

to arouse particular attention on the part
of the observer and to hold the interest
,

pleasurably which m e ans usually inten tly

, ,

with a consequ ent v1v i dnes s of outlines and

of coloring in the picture .

I have referred hitherto to the indelible

e ffect produced on the memory in the mo
ments of some peculiar horror The like .

enduring effect is almost as readily secured

by an event that is merely extravagantly
amusi ng I have at times been exposed
.

to the peril of a violent death , and of such

episodes my recollecti on is naturally exact
, ,

in detail Yet there subsists in my mem

.
,

ory another happening which is eq ually

vivid in the mental picture though this was
,

something only bizarre and ridiculous .

That combination nevertheless is su ffi cient

, ,

for memory since 1t r 1vet s the attent ion

, ,

enforces concentration For that reason I

.
,

must ever remember the incident with a

precision equal to that with which I recall
periods fraught with the issues of life or
[ 1 26 ]
 A Perfect Memory

observe a very aristocratic gentleman stroll

ing along for all the others had been work
,

men or clerks going to their employment .

This gentleman was of r emarkable dignity ,

both in his garb and i n his bearing He had .

a fine face of deep gravity H e looked an

,
.

ideal du ke T o this day I am convinced

.
,

that he was some one of the very highest

position Suddenly he glanced sharply
.
,

about him There was something furtive

.

in his manner that provoked my curiosity .

Evidently he thought himself unobserved

, ,

for I was hidden behind the screen of foliage ,

and there was no one else in sight In .

s t a nt l y th en the gentleman stooped and

, , ,

picked up from the path a small empty ,

paper bag One other g lance he cast about

.

him raised the bag to his lips inflated it , ,

explod ed it with a brisk handclap and ,

grinned in boyish delight at the sharp

rep ort Having thrown the bag from him
.
,

he went on his way sedate l y and now , ,

ag ain in his express ion was only a splendid

,

dignity . That startling contrast b e

 Concerning Dates

tween t h e man s haughtiness of demeanor

’

and his childish glee in the prank is a per

mane n t memo ry The event forced concen
.

t rat i on by its utter absurdity

. So it mus t
,

be remembered .
 P art V I I I

C o n c e r n i n g N a me s an d Fa c e s

NE of the commonest defects

in memory is an inability
to remember the names of
persons met casually In .

re ality however,
unless ,

there be some peculiar n e

ce s s rt y m that direction , as is the case with

politicians and kings most folk would better

,

not encumber the memory with every name

made known out of the passing throng .

Nevertheless if one would for the sake of

, ,

business or pleasure remember any or all

, ,

the me thod of attainment is simple enough .

As far a s the name itself is concern ed ,

con ce nt ra t 1o n 1s again as always in matters

,

of memo ry ,
the prime requisite of a ccom
p l i s h me
.n t It is imperative as the condi
tion for all success When 1nt roduced to
.

[ 3 ]
1 0
 A Perfect Memory

so, rememb e r , ple ase ,

to pay attention and ,

to hear a n d un derstand the name of the

stranger who is to be remembered .

For t he second step in an exact memory ,

it is necessary when addressing the stranger

,

in greet i ng t o re p eat the name Make a

,
.

particular point of pronouncing it firmly ,

with elaborated exa ct ness The emphasis .

of a t t ent 1on 1n the e ffort has a vital e ff ect

on memory in strength ening the conc e n tra

tion Incidentally it is well to bear in
.
,

mind that such distinct employm ent of th e

stranger s name in acknowledging the intro
’

duction is a requirement o f good breeding

as well as of good memory Finally when .
,

you take your leave of the st range r repeat ,

his name yet once ag ain very plainly a nd

,

distinctly with conscious pains with the

, ,

s am e especial atte ntion as before .

In othe r word s : Concent rate your m1ud on

the pers on 8 nam e with the full intention of
’

l tememb e r i ng it an d you will "

As to t h e face the affair i s even simpler

m
, ,

since mos t of us reme ber faces quite

E3 ]
1 2
 Concerning Names and Faces

readily But the method is radically dif

.

fe rent .In this in stance the necess ary pre ,

liminary t o the memorizing is the selection

of some notable feature in the face or m the ,

form if it possess a particular di stinction

su ffi ciently remarkable for the purpose .

You may choose a wen or a hare lip or a ,

-
,

scar o r a twisted eyebrow or a tusk tooth

,
—
, ,

any singularity T h e uglier the thing the

.
,

better for your memory if not for t he

-

unlucky p ossessor of it I by no mean s . .

counsel the unpardonable rudeness of s t ar

ing at a deformity Staring is quite un
.

necessa ry I f the strang e r has a de formity

.
,

you will s ee it e ven if altoget h er polite

, .

Then d uring the interval of time th at y ou

,

remain in the company of the stranger ,

us e great care t o con sider this chos en p e cul

i a ri t y and also t o exa g gerate it if n ecessary

, , ,
.

C romwell bade t h e portrait painter wh o -

’
would have omitted the wart on the ruler s
nose to render it in the pic t ure with ex ;

act n e s s I go a littl e farther and bid you

.
,

ex aggerate the disfigurement A very .

[ 33 ]
1
 A Perfe ct Memory

striking point of bea u ty will do as well but ,

it m ust be something more unusual than

dimples or curvmg scarlet lips or limpi d ,

lustrous eyes While in the presence of the

.

stranger make a mental picture of the face

,

with the selected feature grossly enlarg ed ,

unt i l it overshadows all else d omi n at mg ,

the whole personality Thus y ou are

.
,

presenting for your mind s consideration ’

something sharply concrete a nd wholly ,

distinctive Concentrate on that picture

.
,

based on reality in the person before you ,

p erfected by your act of will that guides i m

ag i nat i on And as you consider the carica
.
,
’
t ure repeat to yourself the person s name
”

with a certain intentness with a careful ,

resolve toward association of the name and

t h e owner of it This process takes t 1me
.
,

assuredly That is the prime virtue of it

. .

It takes attention to the matter in hand .

T hat is t h e reason why it achieves excellent

results You need give no time and no
.

attention to the stranger s face and name in’

order t o forget them The method I h ave

’

[ 34]
1
carefully cultivated in this d i re ct l on T h e
.

a bility t o remember folk is a part of the

royal b us me s s Therefore i t is l earned

.
,
‘

In othe r words concentr ation is pr acti sed

,

until it bec omes habitual . The per

’
fe ct mem ory is thus achieved for prince or
peasant .
 P art I X

T h e P r e s e r v a ti o n o f K n o w l e dg e

is axiomatic that the

preser vation of knowledge “

de p e nds fu n d a me n t a l l y
on memory Whatever is .

learned may be retai ned .

Personally I am incl ined

,

to b elieve that the mind is better off if

much he fo ten There should b e d i s
.

c r1m1n at l on in e stores of memo ry T he .

useless should cast out to make room for

the things Worth while since the capacity
,

of the b rain is li mited in its ordinary op e r a

tions wh atever the infinite resources of th at

,

sublimina l consciou sness of which we are

not conscious While many psychologists

.

maint a in that the sub h mmal consci ousness

c ontains a perfect and permanent record
of all e x periences we are nevertheless sadly
, , ,

[ 37]
1
 A Perfect Memory

aware that our ordinary consciousness

the only on e on which we are able to rely
for the usual concerns of life is often -

weak Much that we learn we lose It

.
,
.

may be conce aled somewhere in the deeps

of our being but it is lost so far that will
,

cannot summon it It is well t o lose much .

,

but it is ill to lose those things we wish t o

retain i Wh at eve r we desire to remember
.

we should rem ember and the way 1s plain ,

enough There shoul d be first the con cen

.

t r a t i on on a concrete v i s ual l z at 1on on which ,

I have insisted so much throughout this

t reatise By this means the original mem
.
,

o ry r e al i z ed i n con s ci ous n e s s is made strong

'

and vivid with a vital tende ncy toward

,

permanency .

T h e s e cond ste
~

the perfecting of mem

the transie nt record,

more lasting m l t s nature This subj ect .

,

Preservation of Knowled ge since on , its

successful use depends our retention of all
that we learn g g
h s
ojg sg g.
m hg
g w

E 13 8 J
 A Perfect Memory

after all is the measure of the man There

, .

comes in the proce ss a certain art of analysis

that i s good for the soul as well as for the ,

memory The habit of measuring perma

.

nent value s is one that makes for morality

o f the b est kind .

Alas "I am writing a treatise on memory

“

not a t ract on morals so I must h a rk b ack

,
s

to the met h ods of remembering and eschew

'

all discussion as to the merits o f t h e th i ng s

‘

to be r emembered .

I offer my counsel no t only t o those that

have r estl ess c ouc he s There are little
’

intervals of opp ortunity for even the best x

of sleepers .Sometimes there is a period of ,

/

waiting at a station for the train Even in .

the restaurant some time is likely to elap se

,

before the food is brought and in those ,

minutes is a chance for mental review for ,

the sifting of t h e tares from the wheat and ,

for the scrutiny of the wheat that shall make

it a p erman ent thing There is not a single
.

on e among my readers who on rew ewmg ,

the circu mstances of his life critic ally could ,

[ 4 ]
1 0
 The Prese rvation of Knowledge

not disc ern opportunities a pl en t y for such

examination of his own mental stores The .

man on the farm of co urse has time a , ,

plenty Th at 1s why the man on th e farm

.
,

as a class 1s always a mighty factor 1n the

,

world of thought The nature of his tasks is

.

such that he has time to spare for thinking ,

and so perforce he does think if he pos

, , ,

sesses a n ormal brain So the politicians .

,

kotow to the farmer They never kotow to .

the conductors of the surface cars for t h e ,

excellent re a son that the conductors as a

class are too busy in taking fares to thin k
of anything bey on d change and their col ,

l e ct i v e thought is nil i n the political situa

tion P erhaps some re ader will won der as
.
,

what he shall try to remember out of his life .

It really does not matter much where the

,

e ffo rt begins or for that matter where i t

, , ,

e nds One should rememb er ever ything in

.

his own experience and then discriminate

, ,

so that the good things are made eve n

lasting and the evil are rej ected for all
,

et ern i ty .
 A Perfect Memory

L et
me confess at last that I believe
, ,

fully in the wonderful subconscious mem

ory for ,
ed it and always fo und
,

it true { But 1s no better than a trap foi

.
'

t h e amb i t i ons s t ud e n since it will not work

g
save under the compulsion of those rules
,

I h ave set forth with so much insistence .

Yet following those rules it is amazing to

, ,

find the developments that a re possible .

Worki ng thus legitimat e ly anything may ,

be recall ed Fi Wi t h concentration day after

‘
,

day on some seemingly forgotten scene of

,

boyhood the whole scene will be recalled

,

finally in a perfection of detail

‘

The .

concentration on memory bri ngs memory; f

It is amazing indeed how repeated

e ff orts toward one particular theme will
bring out from a haze of forgotten
h b u r s a clearl y outlined memory as of
y es terday .

a M
An d let n o ne mistake "
i
In an e xp e rience that has been wide in
many countries I have met no man of,

really extraordinary memory who h as not

[ 4 ]
1 2
 A Perfect Memory

u nquestioned tranquil authority

‘

.
,

wise one comes into possession of

,

ce nt ra t e d thought admirable in
,

and simplicity of its movements ,

in its dignity and

[ 1 44 ]