Do we only learn what moves us?

I would say no. I can still remember a lot from school that absolutely did not move me. LOL But that's the dry facts. If you're speaking of those "life lessons," I think patterns make themselves known and we can learn from them. We can learn out of a desire to learn when we sense a usefulness or importance even if our heart can't relate. And sometimes it's not the knowledge or the lesson that moves us but respect for its source that makes it stick with us. I think what moves us is just the easiest to retain.

No we learn by repetition