--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Few of us make any serious effort to…" description: "\"“Few of us make any serious effort to remember what we read. When I read a book, what do I hope will stay with me a year later? If it’s a work of nonfi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/joshua-foer-4147_book_few-of-us-make-any-serious-effort-to-rem_2338495.png" --- # Few of us make any serious effort to remember what we… ![“Few of us make any serious effort to remember what we read. When I read a book, what do I hope will stay with me a year later? If it’s a work of nonfiction, the thesis, maybe, if the book has one. A few savory details, perhaps. If it’s fiction, the broadest outline of the plot, something about the…” quote by Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/joshua-foer-4147_book_few-of-us-make-any-serious-effort-to-rem_2338495.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/joshua-foer-4147_book_few-of-us-make-any-serious-effort-to-rem_2338495.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/joshua-foer-4147_book_few-of-us-make-any-serious-effort-to-rem_2338495.png) > ““Few of us make any serious effort to remember what we read. When I read a book, what do I hope will stay with me a year later? If it’s a work of nonfiction, the thesis, maybe, if the book has one. A few savory details, perhaps. If it’s fiction, the broadest outline of the plot, something about the main characters (at least their names), and an overall critical judgment about the book. Even these are likely to fade. Looking up at my shelves, at the books that have drained so many of my waking hours, is always a dispiriting experience. One Hundred Years of Solitude: I remember magical realism and that I enjoyed it. But that’s about it. I don’t even recall when I read it. About Wuthering Heights I remember exactly two things: that I read it in a high school English class and that there was a character named Heathcliff. I couldn’t say whether I liked the book or not.”” [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often forget most of what they read, retaining only a few details or general impressions, which can feel discouraging. **In simple terms:** Reading retention is low; we recall only fragments. Key Takeaway Focus on active engagement and note‑taking while reading. Themes memory reading retention literature Mood reflective melancholy motivational Type analytical personal advice When to use this quote - studying academic texts - preparing for exams - personal reading habits - book clubs - research reviews Key Concepts cognitive psychology information decay learning strategies Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform passive reading into active learning? - What techniques help you retain key ideas? A Different Perspective Even with effort, some details will still fade over time. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [English class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-class/) [High school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-school/) [Hundred Years Of Solitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hundred-years-of-solitude/) [Magical realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magical-realism/) [Wuthering Heights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wuthering-heights/) ## Related quotes > [“What kind of books do you like?' 'I like books about nice people. And a story where it all comes out right in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-kennedy/what-kind-of-books-do-you-like-i-like-books-about-nice-people-and-a/) [Margaret Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-kennedy/) > [“Now, what did my brother do to earn your ire this time?-insist that you are better off with a boring young man who will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-smith/now-what-did-my-brother-do-to-earn-your-ire-this-time-insist-that-you/) [Kathryn Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-smith/) > [I had to read Wuthering Heights for English and I never enjoyed a book in all my life as much as that one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlon-brando/i-had-to-read-wuthering-heights-for-english-and-i-never-enjoyed-a/) [Marlon Brando](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlon-brando/) > [“I think sometimes in literature we kind of police ourselves. I know a lot of people talked about Twilight, and they would say, oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/i-think-sometimes-in-literature-we-kind-of-police-ourselves-i-know-a/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [“But I would tell Mother none of this. Nor would I tell her that at the hour of his death, I was floating free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/but-i-would-tell-mother-none-of-this-nor-would-i-tell-her-that-at-the/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [In the end all books are written for your friends. The problem after writing One Hundred Years of Solitude was that now I no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/in-the-end-all-books-are-written-for-your-friends-the-problem-after/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/because-races-condemned-to-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-did-not-have/) [Gabriel García Márquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [My favorite books are actually very complicated - 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', 'Ulysses'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/my-favorite-books-are-actually-very-complicated-one-hundred-years-of/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' is such a powerful book, and 'Love in the Time of Cholera' is so strangely, brilliantly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anjelica-huston/gabriel-garcia-marquez-s-one-hundred-years-of-solitude-is-such-a/) [Anjelica Huston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anjelica-huston/) > ['One Hundred Years of Solitude' convinced me to drop out of Harvard graduate school. The novel reminded me of everything my Ph.D. program was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francine-prose/one-hundred-years-of-solitude-convinced-me-to-drop-out-of-harvard/) [Francine Prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francine-prose/) > [“I couldn't see killing myself if I had a book that was only half-read: Fountainhead, Catcher in the Rye, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-anthony/i-couldn-t-see-killing-myself-if-i-had-a-book-that-was-only-half-read/) [Michael Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-anthony/) > [“You can be a rich person alone. You can be a smart person alone. But you cannot be a complete person alone. For that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-l-friedman/you-can-be-a-rich-person-alone-you-can-be-a-smart-person-alone-but/) [Thomas L. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-l-friedman/) > [“Bella . . . my sweet little flower,” he said softly, reverently as he took her head between his hands and pressed their foreheads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacquelyn-frank/bella-my-sweet-little-flower-he-said-softly-reverently-as-he-took-her/) [Jacquelyn Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacquelyn-frank/) > [Most critics don't realize that a novel like One Hundred Years of Solitude is a bit of a joke, full of signals to close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/most-critics-don-t-realize-that-a-novel-like-one-hundred-years-of/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Before reaching the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/before-reaching-the-final-line-however-he-had-already-understood-that/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) ## More by Joshua Foer > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“I don’t think I’m an exceptionally bad reader. I suspect that many people, maybe even most, are like me. We read and read and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/i-don-t-think-i-m-an-exceptionally-bad-reader-i-suspect-that-many/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Life seems to speed up as we get older because life gets less memorable as we get older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/life-seems-to-speed-up-as-we-get-older-because-life-gets-less/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“We can only think about roughly seven things at a time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/we-can-only-think-about-roughly-seven-things-at-a-time/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [With our blogs and tweets, digital cameras, and unlimited-gigabyte e-mail archives, participation in the online culture now means creating a trail of always present,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/with-our-blogs-and-tweets-digital-cameras-and-unlimited-gigabyte-e/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [How much are we willing to lose from our already short lives by losing ourselves in our Blackberries, our iPhones, by not paying attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/how-much-are-we-willing-to-lose-from-our-already-short-lives-by/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“I Came away from the U.S. Memory Championship eager to find out how Ed and Lukas did it. 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They evolve over centuries through an unplanned, democratic process that leaves them teeming with irregularities, quirks, and words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/languages-are-something-of-a-mess-they-evolve-over-centuries-through/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Invented languages have often been created in tandem with entire invented universes, and most conlangers come to their craft by way of fantasy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/invented-languages-have-often-been-created-in-tandem-with-entire/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“Perhaps, as Borges concludes in his story, it is forgetting, not remembering, that is the essence of what makes us human.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/perhaps-as-borges-concludes-in-his-story-it-is-forgetting-not/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [Someday in the distant cyborg future, when our internal and external memories fully merge, we may come to possess infinite knowledge. But that's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/someday-in-the-distant-cyborg-future-when-our-internal-and-external/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [What makes things memorable is that they are meaningful, significant, colorful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/what-makes-things-memorable-is-that-they-are-meaningful-significant/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [“As the historian Jocelyn Penny Small pointed out, GODISNOWHERE comes out a lot differently when rendered as GOD IS NOW HERE versus GOD IS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/as-the-historian-jocelyn-penny-small-pointed-out-godisnowhere-comes/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) [Explore all 114 Joshua Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Few of us make any serious effort to remember what we read. When I read a book, what do I hope will stay with me a year later? If it’s a work of nonfiction, the thesis, maybe, if the book has one. A few savory details, perhaps. If it’s fiction, the broadest outline of the plot, something about the main characters (at least their names), and an overall critical judgment about the book. Even these are likely to fade. Looking up at my shelves, at the books that have drained so many of my waking hours, is always a dispiriting experience. One Hundred Years of Solitude: I remember magical realism and that I enjoyed it. But that’s about it. I don’t even recall when I read it. About Wuthering Heights I remember exactly two things: that I read it in a high school English class and that there was a character named Heathcliff. 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