WEBVTT

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How to remember occurrences. The phase
of memory which manifests in the recording of

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and recollection of the occurrences and details
of one's every day life is far more

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important than would appear at first thought. The average person is under the impression

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that he remembers very well the occurrences
of his every day business, professional,

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or social life, and is apt
to be surprised to have it suggested to

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him that he really remembers but very
little of what happens to him during his

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waking hours. In order to prove
how very little of this kind is really

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remembered, let each student lay down
this book at this place, and,

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then, quieting his mind, let
him endeavor to recall the incidents of the

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same day of the preceding week.
He will be surprised to see how very

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little of what happened on that day
he is really capable of recollecting. Then

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let him try the same experiment with
the occurrences of yesterday. This result will

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also excite surprise. It is true
that if he is reminded of some particular

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occurrence, he will recall it more
or less distinctly, but beyond that he

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will remember nothing. Let him imagine
himself called upon to testify in court regarding

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the happenings of the previous day or
the day of the week before, and

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he will realize his position. The
reason for his failure to easily remember the

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events referred to is to be found
in the fact that he made no effort

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at the time to impress these happenings
upon his subconscious mentality. He allowed them

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to pass from his attention, like
the proverbial water from the duck's back.

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He did not wish to be bothered
with the recollection of trifles, and in

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endeavoring to escape from them, he
made the mistake of failing to store them

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away. There is a vast difference
between dwelling on the past and storing away

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past records for a possible future reference. To allow the records of each day

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to be destroyed is like tearing up
the important business papers in an office in

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order to avoid giving them a little
space in the files. It is not

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advisable to expend much mental effort in
fastening each important detail of the day upon

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the mind as it occurs. But
there is an easier way that will accomplish

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the purpose, if one will but
take a little trouble In that direction,

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we refer to the practice of reviewing
the occurrences of each day after the active

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work of the day is over.
If you will give to the occurrences of

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each day a mental review in the
evening, you will find that the act

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of reviewing will employ the attack tention
to such an extent as to register the

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happenings in such a manner that they
will be available if ever needed thereafter.

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It is akin to the filing of
the business papers of the day for possible

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future reference. Besides this advantage,
these reviews will serve you well as a

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reminder of many little things of immediate
importance which have escaped your recollection by reason

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of something that followed them. In
the field of attention, you will find

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that a little practice will enable you
to review the events of the day in

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a very short space of time,
with a surprising degree of accuracy of detail.

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It seems that the mind will readily
respond to this demand upon it.

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The process appears to be akin to
a mental digestion, or rather a mental

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rumination, similar to that of the
cow when it choose the cud that it

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has previously gathered. The thing is
largely a knack, easily acquired by a

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little practice. It will pay you
for the little trouble and time that you

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expend upon it. As we have
said, not only do you gain the

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advantage of storing away these records of
the day for future use, but you

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also have your attention called to many
important details that have escaped you, and

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you will find that many ideas of
importance will come to you in your moments

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of leisure rumination. Let this work
be done in the evening when you feel

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at ease, but do not do
it after you retire. The bed is

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made for sleep, not for thinking. You will find that the subconsciousness will

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awaken to the fact that it will
be called upon later for the records of

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the day, and will accordingly take
notice of what happens in a far more

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diligent and faithful manner. The subconsciousness
responds to a call made upon it in

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an astonishing manner. When it once
understands just what is required of it,

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You will see that much of the
virtue of the plan recommended consists in the

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fact that in the review there is
an employment of the attention in a manner

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impossible during the haste and rush of
the day's work. The faint impressions are

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brought out for examination, and the
attention of the examination and review greatly deepen

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the impression in each case, so
that it may be reproduced thereafter in a

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sentence. It is the deepening of
the faint impressions of the day. Thurlow

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Weed, a well known politician of
the last century, testifies to the efficacy

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of the above mentioned method in his
memoirs. His plan was slightly different from

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that mentioned by us, but you
will at once see that it involves the

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same principles, the same psychology.
Mister Weed says, some of my friends

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used to think that I was cut
out for a politician, but I saw

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at once a fatal weakness. My
memory was a sieve. I could remember

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nothing, dates, names, appointments, faces. Everything escaped me. I

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said to my wife Catherine, I
shall never make a successful politician, for

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I cannot remember, and that is
a prime necessity of politicians. A politician

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who sees a man once should remember
him forever. My wife told me that

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I must train my memory. So
when I came home that night, I

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sat down alone and spent fifteen minutes
trying silently to recall with accurate see the

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principal events of the day. I
could remember, but little at first.

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Now I remember that I could not
then recall what I had for breakfast.

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After a few days practice, I
found I could recall more. Events came

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back to me more minutely, more
accurately, and more vividly than at first.

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After a fortnight or so of this, Catherine said, why don't you

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relate to me the events of the
day instead of recalling them to yourself.

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It would be interesting, and my
interest in it would be a stimulus to

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you. Having great respect for my
wife's opinion, I began a habit of

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oral confession, as it were,
which was continued for almost fifty years.

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Every night, the last thing before
retiring, I told her everything I could

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remember that had happened to me or
about me during the day. I generally

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recalled the very dishes I had for
breakfast, dinner, and tea, the

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people I had seen and what they
had said, the editorials I had written

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for my paper, giving her a
brief abstract of them. I mentioned all

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the letters I had seen and received, and the very language used as nearly

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as possible when I had walked or
ridden. I told her everything that had

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come within my observation. I found
that I could say my lesson better and

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better every year, and instead of
the practice growing irksome, it became a

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pleasure to go over again the events
of the day. I am indebted to

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this discipline for a memory of unusual
tenacity, and I recommend the practice to

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all who wished to store up facts
or expect to have much to do with

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influence men. The careful student,
after reading these words of thurlough Weed,

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will see that in them he has
not only given a method of recalling the

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particular class of occurrences mentioned in this
lesson, but has also pointed out a

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way whereby the entire field of memory
may be trained and developed. The habit

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of reviewing and telling the things that
one perceives, does and thinks during the

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day naturally sharpens the powers of future
observation, attention, and perception. If

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you are witnessing a thing which you
know that you will be called upon to

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describe to another person, you will
instinctively apply your attention to it. The

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knowledge that you will be called upon
for a description of a thing will give

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the zest of interest or necessity to
it, which may be lacking otherwise.

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If you will sense things with the
knowledge that you will be called upon to

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tell of them later on. You
will give the interest and attention that go

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to make sharp, clear and deep
impressions on the memory. In this case,

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the seeing and hearing has a meaning
to you and a purpose. In

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addition to this, the work of
review establishes a desirable habit of mind.

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If you don't care to relate the
occurrences to another person, learn to tell

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them to yourself. In the evening
play the part yourself. There is a

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valuable secret of memory embedded in this
chapter, if you are wise enough to

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apply it,