Quote of the Day (Cullen Murphy, on Memorization as a Skill ‘Allowed to Atrophy’)

“Memorization is an antique skill that has heedlessly been allowed to atrophy. The word ‘rote’ tends to be employed these days solely with a pejorative inflection, as if rote memory were not a resource or a tool. I would propose the creation of a kind of oasis of memory. And I would suggest, as a start, these few basics: the ‘Rules of Civility’ from George Washington’s childhood chapbook; the biblical Song of Songs; Chapter Fourteen (‘Mealtime Manners’) of Emily Post's Etiquette; the preamble of the Constitution of the United States; Martin Luther King's ‘I Have a Dream’ speech; the official baseball rulebook; the Maxims of La Rochefoucauld; Chapter Seven (‘Tires, Wheels, Brakes, and Suspension’) of the Readers Digest Family Handyman guide Simple Car Care and Repair; Chapter 10 (‘some are more equal than others’) of George Orwell’s Animal Farm; the category ‘Anonymous’ in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations; the words to ‘Louie, Louie.’ When students are ready to move on to second grade, they can add much more.”— American writer, journalist and editor Cullen Murphy, “The Oasis of Memory,” The Atlantic, May 1998

The image accompanying this post, showing Cullen Murphy at the 2007 Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas, was taken Nov. 3, 2007, by Larry D. Moore.