A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.

Man is only great when he acts from passion.

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.

Man is the only animal capable of reasoning, though many others possess the faculty of memory and instruction in common with him.

The final proof of greatness lies in being able to endure criticism without resentment.

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

I have an excellent memory, a most excellent memory.

I remember very little about writing the first series of ‚Hitchhiker’s.‘ It’s almost as if someone else wrote it.

I only see clearly what I remember.

There never was any heart truly great and generous, that was not also tender and compassionate.

The United States is definitely ahead in culture of innovation. If someone wants to accomplish great things, there is no better place than the U.S.

Many a man fails as an original thinker simply because his memory it too good.

Memory is the way we keep telling ourselves our stories – and telling other people a somewhat different version of our stories.

Ability is nothing without opportunity.

If you don’t know how great this country is, I know someone who does; Russia.

Who questions much, shall learn much, and retain much.

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.

Let a man get up and say, Behold, this is the truth, and instantly I perceive a sandy cat filching a piece of fish in the background. Look, you have forgotten the cat, I say.

Things may not be immediately discernible in what a man writes, and in this sometimes he is fortunate; but eventually they are quite clear, and by these and the degree of alchemy that he possesses, he will endure or be forgotten.

If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.

Voters quickly forget what a man says.

Sometimes I get the start of a story from a memory, an anecdote, but that gets lost and is usually unrecognizable in the final story.

Memory is deceptive because it is colored by today’s events.

My mind doesn’t work, my memories don’t work like a computer file where I can just retrieve them and, boy, there it is. My mind is selective in terms of memories. When I try to think back to college or high school, there are gaps. I try to fill them in. But I can’t tell you it’s always the truth.

To forget one’s purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.

A great city, whose image dwells in the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome represents conquest; Faith hovers over the towers of Jerusalem; and Athens embodies the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art.

Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.

It seems that it had been destined before that I should occupy myself so thoroughly with the vulture, for it comes to my mind as a very early memory, when I was still in the cradle, a vulture came down to me, he opened my mouth with his tail and struck me a few times with his tail against my lips.

The memory of that scene for me is like a frame of film forever frozen at that moment: the red carpet, the green lawn, the white house, the leaden sky. The new president and his first lady.

My recollection is – and I’d have to confirm this – but I don’t recall paying any money to go to law school.

It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man and the security of a god.

I do sometimes look back at things I’ve written in the past, and think, ‚I just don’t remember being the person who wrote that.‘

Poverty is a veil that obscures the face of greatness. An appeal is a mask covering the face of tribulation.

The herd seek out the great, not for their sake but for their influence; and the great welcome them out of vanity or need.

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

The greatest gift is the ability to forget – to forget the bad things and focus on the good.

The two offices of memory are collection and distribution.

Man’s unhappiness, as I construe, comes of his greatness; it is because there is an Infinite in him, which with all his cunning he cannot quite bury under the Finite.

The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.

Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.

So many people have this idea: I want to achieve something great or be somebody great. And they neglect the step that leads to greatness. They don’t honor this step at this moment because they have this idea of some future moment where they are going to be great.

Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects and please or displease only in the memory.

Great is the hand that holds dominion over man by a scribbled name.

There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.

No memory of having starred atones for later disregard, or keeps the end from being hard.

I believe that every one of us has a gift. And I believe that mine is the ability to take the complex and make it simple.

History shows that the majority of people that have done anything great have passed their youth in seclusion.

I fear that there are too many priesthood bearers who have done little or nothing to develop their ability to access the powers of Heaven.

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.

If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song.

God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers.

No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor.

It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.

I do not, in fact, use many puns. Certainly there are far fewer than people believe. But I suspect the ones I do occasionally use tend to hang around in people’s memories for a while.

I had been told from school onwards that the best definition of a human being was man the tool-maker – yet I had just watched a chimp tool-maker in action. I remember that day as vividly as if it was yesterday.

Sweet is the memory of past troubles.

I never heard of an old man forgetting where he had buried his money! Old people remember what interests them: the dates fixed for their lawsuits, and the names of their debtors and creditors.

No one was ever great without some portion of divine inspiration.

It is sadder to find the past again and find it inadequate to the present than it is to have it elude you and remain forever a harmonious conception of memory.

I don’t see how people are comfortable with seeing other people be great. You can be happy for anybody, but what is your excuse to not want to be great? These people are great because they just say, ‚I’ma do that,‘ and they do it. That’s it. There’s no scientifical process.