[35]
By testing ourselves to see
[p. 233]
whether we remember a passage, we develop greater
concentration without waste of time over the repetition of passages which we already know by heart.
Thus, only those passages which tend to slip from
the memory are repeated with a view to fixing them
in the mind by frequent rehearsal, although as a rule
the mere fact that they once slipped our memory
makes us ultimately remember them with special
accuracy. Both learning by heart and writing have
this feature in common: namely, that good health,
sound digestion, and freedom from other preoccupations of mind contribute largely to the success of
both.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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