--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most men have a good memory for facts…" description: "\"Most men have a good memory for facts connected with their own pursuits.\" — William James" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/william-james-228_connected_most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-co_2462661.png" --- # Most men have a good memory for facts connected with their… ![“Most men have a good memory for facts connected with their own pursuits.” quote by William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/william-james-228_connected_most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-co_2462661.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/william-james-228_connected_most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-co_2462661.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/william-james-228_connected_most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-co_2462661.png) > “Most men have a good memory for facts connected with their own pursuits.” [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People tend to remember facts that directly relate to their own interests, showing a self‑centered memory bias. **In simple terms:** Memory favors personally relevant facts. Key Takeaway Connect information to personal relevance. Themes psychology memory self‑interest Mood reflective educational Type cognitive practical When to use this quote - education - marketing - personal coaching Key Concepts cognitive bias information retention Questions to Reflect On - How can you broaden your knowledge beyond personal interests? - What strategies improve unbiased recall? A Different Perspective Bias can limit broader learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Connected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connected/) [Educational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Facts Connected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts-connected-673012/) [Good memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-memories/) [Good memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-memory/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-facts-673011/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-good/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Pursuit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pursuit/) ## Related quotes > [I have a bad memory for facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/i-have-a-bad-memory-for-facts/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Of what use is the memory of facts, if not to serve as an example of good or of evil?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-vigny/of-what-use-is-the-memory-of-facts-if-not-to-serve-as-an-example-of/) [Alfred de Vigny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-vigny/) > [“researchers commonly distinguish the following memory systems: memory for how to do things (procedural memory), memory for facts (semantic memory), and memory for events…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-suddendorf/researchers-commonly-distinguish-the-following-memory-systems-memory/) [Thomas Suddendorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-suddendorf/) > [I used to believe having a good memory meant being able to remember everything in perfect detail. Now I believe having a good memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-dermont/i-used-to-believe-having-a-good-memory-meant-being-able-to-remember-2/) [Amber Dermont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-dermont/) > [One must have a good memory to keep the promises one has made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/one-must-have-a-good-memory-to-keep-the-promises-one-has-made/) [Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/) > [Memory is the friend of wit, but the treacherous ally of invention; there are many books that owe their success to two things; good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/memory-is-the-friend-of-wit-but-the-treacherous-ally-of-invention/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [If man has one good memory to go by, that may be enough to save him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/if-man-has-one-good-memory-to-go-by-that-may-be-enough-to-save-him/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [I should remember more, and I have a pretty good memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-romero/i-should-remember-more-and-i-have-a-pretty-good-memory/) [Cesar Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-romero/) > [There is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome and useful for life in later years than some good memory, especially a memory connected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/there-is-nothing-higher-and-stronger-and-more-wholesome-and-useful/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [A good forgettery is a happier possession than a good memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myrtle-reed/a-good-forgettery-is-a-happier-possession-than-a-good-memory/) [Myrtle Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myrtle-reed/) > [A good memory, which nature has endowed us with, causes things long past to seem present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/a-good-memory-which-nature-has-endowed-us-with-causes-things-long/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [I've always been able to recount things, and I have a really good memory about dialog and what people have said before and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/i-ve-always-been-able-to-recount-things-and-i-have-a-really-good/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [I didn't want it to be one good memory that led to a lot of bad ones. I wanted it to stay what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-scott/i-didn-t-want-it-to-be-one-good-memory-that-led-to-a-lot-of-bad-ones/) [Elizabeth Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-scott/) > [I do have a really good memory. I mean, like, I can remember all the phone numbers of everybody on the street I grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-do-have-a-really-good-memory-i-mean-like-i-can-remember-all-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [A good memory is one trained to forget the trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/a-good-memory-is-one-trained-to-forget-the-trivial/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) ## More by William James > [Effort is the one strictly undervalued and original contribution we make to this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/effort-is-the-one-strictly-undervalued-and-original-contribution-we/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [In the dim background of our mind we know meanwhile what we ought to be doing: getting up, dressing ourselves, answering the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/in-the-dim-background-of-our-mind-we-know-meanwhile-what-we-ought-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Our minds thus grow in spots; and like grease-spots, the spots spread. But we let them spread as little as possible: we keep unaltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/our-minds-thus-grow-in-spots-and-like-grease-spots-the-spots-spread/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Circumstance does not make me, it reveals me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/circumstance-does-not-make-me-it-reveals-me/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > ['Facts' are the bounds of human knowledge, set for it, not by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/facts-are-the-bounds-of-human-knowledge-set-for-it-not-by-it/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [We never fully grasp the import of any true statement until we have a clear notion of what the opposite untrue statement would be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-never-fully-grasp-the-import-of-any-true-statement-until-we-have-a/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is your friends who make your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-your-friends-who-make-your-world/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/human-beings-can-alter-their-lives-by-altering-their-attitudes-of-mind/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Most people, probably, are in doubt about certain matters ascribed to their past. They may have seen them, may have said them, done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-people-probably-are-in-doubt-about-certain-matters-ascribed-to/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“How soon, indeed, are human things forgotten! As we meet here this morning, the Southern sun is shining on their place of burial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/how-soon-indeed-are-human-things-forgotten-as-we-meet-here-this/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [There can be no difference anywhere that does not make a difference somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-can-be-no-difference-anywhere-that-does-not-make-a-difference/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/it-is-wrong-always-everywhere-and-for-everyone-to-believe-anything/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) [Explore all 854 William James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More Connected quotes > [I don't understand why we're all connected wirelessly via a little machine that goes in our pocket, to everybody in the world, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-chu/i-don-t-understand-why-we-re-all-connected-wirelessly-via-a-little/) [Jon M. 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In the same way, you all must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/as-in-any-machine-all-the-wires-must-be-connected-to-the-mains/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [The most difficult part for me is feeling connected to the people that I love but always being on the go to different places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-franti/the-most-difficult-part-for-me-is-feeling-connected-to-the-people/) [Michael Franti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-franti/) > [I don't have faith in the Internet, I have faith in people connected through the Internet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-gilliam/i-don-t-have-faith-in-the-internet-i-have-faith-in-people-connected/) [Jim Gilliam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-gilliam/) > [“I realized that all things in life are connected and I could no longer go about life without looking within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-martin/i-realized-that-all-things-in-life-are-connected-and-i-could-no/) [Ricky Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-martin/) > [In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/in-a-personal-way-to-do-with-family-and-the-father-son-relationship/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [Me and my mum didn't see eye-to-eye for a lot of years, and I've never really felt connected with my dad, because he wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/me-and-my-mum-didn-t-see-eye-to-eye-for-a-lot-of-years-and-i-ve-never/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the other with habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-edgeworth/there-are-two-sorts-of-content-one-is-connected-with-exertion-the/) [Maria Edgeworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-edgeworth/) > [I admit that these terms and the diagrams connected with them repel some readers, and fill others with the vain imagination that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-marshall/i-admit-that-these-terms-and-the-diagrams-connected-with-them-repel/) [Alfred Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-marshall/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. The successes for which it strives, the achievements upon which it sets store, are connected with fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-tribe-let-us-say-is-warlike-the-successes-for-which-it-strives-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [every subjective phenomenon is essentially connected with a single point of view, and it seems inevitable that an objective, physical theory will abandon that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/every-subjective-phenomenon-is-essentially-connected-with-a-single/) [Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/) > [Be conscious of one another and everything that we are connected to in this world of ours (not just your relatives and friends).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noelle-scaggs/be-conscious-of-one-another-and-everything-that-we-are-connected-to/) [Noelle Scaggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noelle-scaggs/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [I want viewers to see that everything is connected, even the little guys like pollinators and flowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-schwartzberg/i-want-viewers-to-see-that-everything-is-connected-even-the-little/) [Louie Schwartzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-schwartzberg/) [Browse all 2,295 Connected quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connected/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most men have a good memory for facts connected with their own pursuits.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-connected-with-their-own/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Connected" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-connected-with-their-own/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/william-james-228_connected_most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-co_2462661.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/william-james-228_connected_most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-co_2462661.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/be0/william-james-228_connected_most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-co_2462661.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most men have a good memory for facts connected with their own pursuits.” — William James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most men have a good memory...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-connected-with-their-own/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/most-men-have-a-good-memory-for-facts-connected-with-their-own/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```