Quote Originally Posted by Strike For The South View Post
I find it helps me remember the book better and if I can't quite recall something its just a page flip away.

You read allot of books. Do you remember the majority of what you read?
I remember the stuff that seems important enough and interesting enough as I read it, the kind of stuff that you put down the book and think about. And a random smattering of the other stuff, and a good sense of the overall picture. I copy down quotes sometimes where I want to preserve the exact wording, usually when it's an aphorism (so mostly hoffer and nietzsche).

Basically though I remember reading books a few years back that I thought were super interesting, that I now see were pretty narrow or silly. So I'm not necessarily worried about preserving the book in my memory. For all I know in a few years I'll think that the book wasn't that good.

On the whole I figure if I get why it's important to remember something while reading the book I'll remember it, and if I don't get why it's important then I don't know what to copy down.