--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sole virtue of losing your short-term…" description: "\"The sole virtue of losing your short-term memory is that it does free you to be your own editor.\" — Norman Mailer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/norman-mailer-839_doe_the-sole-virtue-of-losing-your-short-ter_1413158.png" --- # The sole virtue of losing your short-term memory is that… ![“The sole virtue of losing your short-term memory is that it does free you to be your own editor.” quote by Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/norman-mailer-839_doe_the-sole-virtue-of-losing-your-short-ter_1413158.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/norman-mailer-839_doe_the-sole-virtue-of-losing-your-short-ter_1413158.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c8/norman-mailer-839_doe_the-sole-virtue-of-losing-your-short-ter_1413158.png) > “The sole virtue of losing your short-term memory is that it does free you to be your own editor.” [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Losing short-term memory frees you from self‑censorship, allowing authentic self‑editing. **In simple terms:** Forgetfulness can liberate personal expression. Key Takeaway Embrace forgetting to edit yourself. Themes creativity self‑reflection memory Mood introspective liberating Type creative personal When to use this quote - writing process - personal journaling - creative brainstorming - therapy sessions Key Concepts memory loss self‑editing authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of self‑editing improve when you forget? - Can forgetting hinder growth? A Different Perspective Loss of memory may impair practical tasks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Short term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-term/) [Short term memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/short-term-memory/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I don't know anyone who's going to see Grind 22 times in the theater. My mom. Some kid who has short-term memory loss and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-brody/i-don-t-know-anyone-who-s-going-to-see-grind-22-times-in-the-theater/) [Adam Brody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-brody/) > [You have to have short-term memory. You have to be able to move on to the next practice, the next game, turn the page…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-carlyle/you-have-to-have-short-term-memory-you-have-to-be-able-to-move-on-to/) [Randy Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-carlyle/) > [I have terrible short-term memory loss, which I like to think of as Presidential eligibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-poundstone/i-have-terrible-short-term-memory-loss-which-i-like-to-think-of-as/) [Paula Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-poundstone/) > [Your short-term memory really is shot! It must drive you nuts!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-madeley/your-short-term-memory-really-is-shot-it-must-drive-you-nuts/) [Richard Madeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-madeley/) > [The best pitchers have a short term memory and a bullet proof confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-maddux/the-best-pitchers-have-a-short-term-memory-and-a-bullet-proof/) [Greg Maddux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-maddux/) > [I’m fortunate to have found out early, in 1990, just two years after I retired, that I have neurological damage. I try to manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-carson/i-m-fortunate-to-have-found-out-early-in-1990-just-two-years-after-i/) Harry Carson > [The average person's short-term memory can hold only five to seven bits of data at any one moment. 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Each requires the same concentration, intense short-term memory, and obliviousness to everything else until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/movie-acting-i-later-realized-reminds-me-of-contract-bridge-each/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Short term memory makes no difference if you've lost your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellis/short-term-memory-makes-no-difference-if-you-ve-lost-your-mind/) [Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellis/) > [I have short-term memory loss, though I'd like to think of it as Persidential eligibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-poundstone/i-have-short-term-memory-loss-though-i-d-like-to-think-of-it-as/) [Paula Poundstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-poundstone/) ## More by Norman Mailer > [Conservatives are people who look at a tree and feel instinctively that it is more beautiful than anything they can name. But when it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/conservatives-are-people-who-look-at-a-tree-and-feel-instinctively/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [There's a subterranean impetus towards pornography so powerful that half the business world is juiced by the sort of half sex that one finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/there-s-a-subterranean-impetus-towards-pornography-so-powerful-that/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [So the blind will lead the blind, and the deaf shout warnings to one another until their voices are lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/so-the-blind-will-lead-the-blind-and-the-deaf-shout-warnings-to-one/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Writing for a newspaper is like running a revolutionary war. 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