“Because the passage of time makes memory unclear, in order to recall these facts, we tend to direct our attention to its emotional texture instead. The echo of emotion produced from the memory ends up becoming a surrogate for the memory itself. You may have forgotten that hurtful thing your aunt said to you years ago, but you sure as hell remember how upset you felt upon hearing it.”

I love this! Societies have what we call “collective memories” and they often cannot recall actual facts of past events, but will keenly recall how the event made them feel.