Page:Memory; how to develop, train, and use it - Atkinson - 1919.djvu/194

188 score of minor directions. Indeed it comprehends them all, and is the golden rule The page should be read as if it were never to be seen a second time; the mental eye should be fixed as if there were no other object to think of; the memory should grasp the facts like a vise; the impressions should be distinctly and sharply received.” It is not necessary, nor is it advisable to attempt to memorize the text of a book, excepting, perhaps, a few passages that may seem worthy to be treasured up word for word. The principal thing to be remembered about a book is its meaning—what it is about. Then may follow the general outline, and the details of the story, essay, treatise or whatever it may be. The question that should be asked oneself, after the book is completed, or after the completion of some particular part of the book, is: “What was the writer’s idea—what did he wish to say?” Get the idea of the writer. By taking this mental attitude you practically place yourself in the place of the writer, and thus take part in the idea of the book. You thus view it from the inside, rather than from the outside. You