I name memory and I
know what I name. But where do I know it, except in the memory
itself? Is it also present to itself by its image, and not by
itself?
CHAPTER XVI
24. When I name forgetfulness, and understand what I mean by
the name, how could I understand it if I did not remember it? And
if I refer not to the sound of the name, but to the thing which
the term signifies, how could I know what that sound signified if
I had forgotten what the name means? When, therefore, I remember
memory, then memory is present to itself by itself, but when I
remember forgetfulness then both memory and forgetfulness are
present together -- the memory by which I remember the
forgetfulness which I remember. But what is forgetfulness except
the privation of memory? How, then, is that present to my memory
which, when it controls my mind, I cannot remember? But if what
we remember we store up in our memory; and if, unless we
remembered forgetfulness, we could never know the thing signified
by the term when we heard it -- then, forgetfulness is contained
in the memory. It is present so that we do not forget it, but
since it is present, we do forget.
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