The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne & Jerry Lucas

• All memory, whether trained or untrained, is based on association.
• One of the fundamentals of a trained memory is what we all Original Awareness. Anything of who you are Originally Aware cannot be forgotten. And, applying our systems of association will force Original Awareness. Observation is essential to Original Awareness--anything you wish to remember must first be observed. Using association will take care of that, too.
• It is always easier to remember things that have meaning than it is to remember things that do not.
• We believe that there are three basic learning skills:
• The search for information
• Remembering information
• Applying the information
• Here’s a basic memory rule: You can remember any new piece of information if it is associated to something you already know or remember,
• If you know how to consciously associate anything you want to remember to something you already know, you’ll have a trained memory.
• In order to remember any new piece of information, it must be associated to something you already know or remember in some ridiculous ways.
• The link system is used to remember things in sequence only, and there are many things that must be remembered, or leaders, in sequence.
• The one problem you may have in linking, only at first, is in making your pictures ridiculous. There are four simple rules to help you do this right from the start.
• The easiest rule to apply is the rule of substitution.
• Another rule is out of proportion.
• Another rule is exaggeration.
• And, try to get action into your pictures.
• Making the pictures ridiculous is what enables you to really see them; a logical picture is usually too vague. Once you really see the ridiculous picture, it does register in your mind.
• The substitute word concept can be applied to any seemingly abstract material. Basically, it’s this: when you hear or see a word or phrase that seems abstract or intangible to you, think of something--anything-that sounds like, or reminds you of, the abstract material and can be pictured in your mind.
• To repeat, you do have to use a bit of imagination, and the more often you form conscious associations, the easier it will become because you will be improving your imagination as you improve your memory.
• Trying to find a substitute word for anything forces you to think about it, to concentrate on it as you normally would not.
• Probably the worst mistake you can make is to try to memorize a speech word for word. First of all, it isn’t really necessary. [...] Secondly, memorizing the speech word for word will make it sound that way when you deliver it--memorized. And, finally, when you memorize a speech word for word, you’re taking the chance of fumbling over one word you can’t remember.
• The best way to deliver a speech is to talk it in your own words, thought for thought. A speech is a sequence of thoughts; if the thoughts are out of sequence, the speech won’t make much sense.
• Simply link keywords as you read or listen. Applied to reading material, the idea forces you to read actively, with concentration; applied to lectures, it does the same thing.
• Once you definitely know the sequence of thoughts, the words tend to take care of themselves. If you know the thought, the worst that can happen is that you’ll say the line a bit differently from the way it was written; it’s when you don’t know the thought that you can really “go up”.
• The substitute word idea can be applied to any word of any language. There is no word that does not sound like, or make you think of, something in your own language.
• First impressions are usually lasting impressions, and what is outstanding on someone’s face now will, most likely, seem outstanding when you see that face again. That’s important; but more important is the fact that you’ve really looked at that face. You’re etching that face into your memory by just trying to apply the system.
• If your mind is “absent” when performing an action, there can be no observation; more important, there can be no original awareness.
• The solution to the problem of absent mindedness is both simple and obvious: all you have to do is to be sure to think of what you’re doing during the moment in which you’re doing it.
• The problem of remembering numbers, probably the most difficult of all memory chores, can be solved by learning a simple phonetic alphabet, consisting of just ten pairs of digits and sounds.