Quote of the Day: Thomas Fuller on Daily Inspiration

Early November has a particular feel: the year is winding down, the days are shorter, and life naturally asks what you’ve really kept from the months behind you. In that quiet accounting, Thomas Fuller offers a bracing reminder: “We have all forgot more than we remember.”

Memory isn’t an inventory, it’s a sieve. Most conversations, insights, and lessons slide through unless we catch them with intention. The danger isn’t that we forget; it’s that the few grains that remain can inflate our confidence. We start to mistake familiarity for mastery, and vague impressions for truth. Fuller’s line invites humility: if forgetting is the default, then clarity requires effort.

That effort is wonderfully practical. Treat learning like a living garden: return to it, water it, and prune it. Write a few lines after meetings. Revisit notes once a week. Teach a concept to a friend. Build simple systems, checklists, calendars, summaries, that protect your leadership from the limits of recall. And be gentle with yourself: forgetting doesn’t mean you’re failing; it means your mind is optimizing. Your job is to decide what deserves reinforcement.

As a renowned English clergyman, historian, and master of sharp aphorisms, Thomas Fuller spent his life distilling human nature into durable wisdom, proof that what lasts is rarely accidental.

Today, choose one thing you don’t want to lose, a lesson, a relationship, a priority, and preserve it on purpose: jot a five-sentence “remember this” note, set a single reminder, and share it with someone who will keep you honest in your resilience. May what matters most stay close, and may what doesn’t drift away without regret.