how to live in a world without a memory
"A world without memory is a world of the present. The past exists only in books, in documents. In order to know himself, each person carries his own Book of Life, which is filled with the history of his life. By reading its pages daily, he can relearn the identity of his parents, whether he was born high or born low, whether he did well or did poorly in school, whether he has accomplished anything in his life. Without his Book of Life, a person is a snapshot, a two-dimensional image, a ghost...
...Some have stopped reading altogether. They have abandoned the past. The have decided that it matters not if yesterday they were rich or poor, educated or ignorant, proud or humble, in love or empty-heated-no more than it matters how a soft wind gets into their hair. Such people look you directly in the eye and grip your hand firmly. Such people walk with the limber stride of their youth. Such people have learned how to live in a world without memory."
- from "20 May 1905" in Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
...Some have stopped reading altogether. They have abandoned the past. The have decided that it matters not if yesterday they were rich or poor, educated or ignorant, proud or humble, in love or empty-heated-no more than it matters how a soft wind gets into their hair. Such people look you directly in the eye and grip your hand firmly. Such people walk with the limber stride of their youth. Such people have learned how to live in a world without memory."
- from "20 May 1905" in Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman