>"Few men, if any, have iron memories. How soon is a sermon preached forgotten, when a sermon written remains! Augustine writing to Volusian, saith, "That which is written is always at hand to be read when the reader is at leisure." Men do not easily forget their own names, nor otheir father's house, nor the wives of their bosoms, nor the fruit of their loins, not to eat their daily bread; and yet, ah! how easily do they forget that word of grace, that should be dearer to them than all! Most mens' memories, especially in the great concernments of their souls, are like a sieve or boulter, where the good corn and fine flour goes through, but the light chaff and coarse bran remain behind; or like a strainer, where the sweet liquor is strained out, but the dregs left behind; or like a grate that lets the pure water run away, but if there be any straws, sticks, mud or filth, that it holds as it were with iron bands. Most men's memories are very treacherous, espeically in good things; few mens' memories are a holy ark, a heavenly storehouse or magazine for their souls, and therefore they stand in more need of the written word." [Thomas Brooks--Mute Christian under the Rod dedicatory epistle]
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