Stephen R. Schmidt

"The attention which we lend to an experience is proportional to
its vivid or interesting character: and it is a notorious fact that what 
interests us most vividly at the time is, other things equal, what we 
remember best.  An impression may be so exciting emotionally as almost to
leave a scar upon the cerebral tissues . . .
                          (William James, 1890, p. 670)."