Again, it is hurtful to force the memory in hours of physical weakness or mental

weariness. Health is the basis of the best mental action and the operation of

memory is no exception.

 

Finally, do not become a slave to a system. Knowledge of a few simple facts of

mind and memory will set you to work at the right end of the operation. Use

these _principles_, whether included in a system or not, but do not bind

yourself to a method that tends to lay more stress on the _way_ to remember than

on the development of memory itself. It is nothing short of ridiculous to

memorize ten words in order to remember one fact.

 

_The Natural Laws of Memory_

 

_Concentrated attention_ at the time when you wish to store the mind is the

first step in memorizing--and the most important one by far. You forgot the

fourth of the list of articles your wife asked you to bring home chiefly because

you allowed your attention to waver for an instant when she was telling you.

Attention may not be concentrated attention. When a siphon is charged with gas

it is sufficiently filled with the carbonic acid vapor to make its influence

felt; a mind charged with an idea is charged to a degree sufficient to hold it.

Too much charging will make the siphon burst; too much attention to trifles

leads to insanity. Adequate attention, then, is the fundamental secret of

remembering.

 

Generally we do not give a fact adequate attention when it does not seem