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Full Idea
Although memory gives the most irresistible evidence of my being the identical person that did such a thing, I may have other good evidence of things which befell me. I know who bare me and suckled me, but I do not remember those events.
Gist of Idea
Memory reveals my past identity - but so does testimony of other witnesses
Source
Thomas Reid (Essays on Intellectual Powers 3: Memory [1785], III.Ch 4)
Book Ref
'Personal Identity', ed/tr. Perry,John [University of California 1975], p.110
A Reaction
A splendidly accurate and simple observation. Reid's criticisms of Locke are greatly superior to those of Butler. We now have vast collections of photographs showing our past identities.