A Word to the Student
The greatest lesson of education is thought. The thing you should be striving for and working toward is the ability to think clearly, logically and deeply. One of the greatest aids is the knowledge which is stored in your brain and which you are all able to recall at will.
Your brain is not like sticking plaster, it is like putty; you must make an impression of the things you wish to retain. To make these impressions will always require an effort, no help will ever be devised which will enable you to remember without effort.
The ideas given to you in this book are aids, and you should become able to use them as such. The principles of memory are scientifically accurate and you need to become familiar with them and to use them to add to your success in study and progress.
Do not be like the carpenter who "is too busy to sharpen his tools," or like the drowning man who refused to grasp the rope because he feared it was not strong enough.
Use every idea that proves helpful and apply it in every possible way. There is no intent to give here all of the applications, but merely to give principles and to suggest one or two ways in which they have been used. The applications that are of most value to you are those you make for yourself. The principles will cover every need, if you will be resourceful in their use.