When we first hear [a] word, we start putting these associational hooks into it that make it easier to fish it back out at some later date.

One trick, known as the journey method or 'memory palace,' is to conjure up a familiar space in the mind's eye, and then populate it with images of whatever it is you want to remember.

Our culture is an edifice built of externalized memories.

Many memory techniques involve creating unforgettable imagery, in your minds eye. Thats an act of imagination. Creating really weird imagery really quickly was the most fun part of my training to compete in the U.S. Memory Competition.

The way to get better at a skill is to force yourself to practice just beyond your limits.

Just as we accumulate memories of facts by integrating them into a network, we accumulate life experiences by integrating them into a web of other chronological memories. The denser the web, the denser the experience of time.

...who we are and what we do it is fundamentally a function of what we remember.