People Share The One Compliment They Received That Stayed With Them

Compliments are nice, especially when they're unexpected. A few weeks ago, someone at a party told me I had a "quiet intensity," which stuck with me and gave my confidence a huge boost. What praise have you been paid that put some pep in your step?

mrjeeveswilliams asked, What's a casual compliment someone gave you which stuck with you and shaped you?

Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.

Knowing people can rely on you is immensely satisfying.

When I was teaching, one of the kids had an accident and broke their project. I comforted the little dude and told him I'd fix it on my lunch break. He said, "How do I know you'll do it?" One of the other kids said, "Don't say that! Person144 always does what they say they'll do!" I've tried to live up to that kid's opinion of me ever since.

Kids often blame themselves for their parents' divorce, so this probably felt amazing.

My second-grade teacher was pregnant and she said: "I hope my child is just like you." My parents were getting divorced and I used to hang out in her classroom after school for an hour just because I enjoyed her company and needed someone to talk to.

"A good manager doesn't fire, he hires and inspires." - Michael Scott

"I wish I had 12 of you" my manager basically saying I was the best worker she had during my yearly review.

Edit: Guys, I got a raise and a bonus during that review. Not sure why so much negativity.

Cute, he thinks I have it together.

"You're the only person who ever knows what's going on around here. Without you, we'd all be beating each other over the heads and consuming our children."

--A very drunk professor at our annual department party

We are more than our grades. Some of us are teacher's pet.

Parent Teacher Night in 9th grade and nearly every single teacher that my dad talked to mentioned my shoddy grades, poor assignment work, or constantly being distracted. As the night went on I just kept feeling more and more pathetic, but then we got to my history teacher and he was wicked happy to meet my dad. He talked about my grades for a little bit, but then spent most of the time saying how I was such a nice and respectful student, how I got along with everyone, and how much he enjoyed having me in his class. Perhaps he was just saying that cuz he noticed how anxious I was, but it made me realize that I'm more than just a couple of grades.

Hey thanks. PayPal me.

"You're my favorite person to people-watch"

Well, I'm pretty sure that was a compliment. And I'm also not sure how I feel about that.

You can always count on little kids to tell you the truth.

I had this little boy walk up to me while I was waiting for my husband to finish in the bathroom, and he just goes "hi" and I'm like "...hi?" And he goes "YOU'RE REALLY PRETTY" and bolts in the other direction. I have never been more flattered.

Adults lie, they socially contract, they BS. Kids don't just do that shit unbidden, especially at personal social risk. I've seen kids straight up point to someone's worst feature and announce it. This kid took the time to overcome his lil fear and come up and tell me I'm pretty. Made my week.

Find people who appreciate your individual weirdness. It's special.

After high school I became really good friends with a real popular kid from another school, one night we were talking about high school and I was like "I'm a bit of a weird kid so I didn't have too many friends in high school" and he countered with "nah you're not weird, people just don't take the time to get to know you."

This says more about college campuses than we'd care to admit.

Walking a girl across campus at night-- "I feel safe when you're around."

I'll take it.

"Everyone's an idiot except you" - superior, complimenting me while also insulting my coworkers

Nothing is more valuable, or attractive, than being a good and decent person.

One of my best friends is drop-dead gorgeous. She could be a model if she pursued it. She is also, funny, intelligent, loving, and kind. Since we were young I always felt like I was in her shadow; being the nerdy, chubby, awkward friend. One summer night after graduation, she told me after a drunken argument: "you are the most beautiful and intelligent person I know. I've always been so jealous of you." I never knew she looked up to me the same way I did all those years. It changed my perspective on how I saw everyone around me.

Find you someone who drops plates in your presence.

I was out to eat with my Dad, his girlfriend, and my sister and we were walking through the restaurant to get to the rest of the mall while waiting on our table and this girl dropped all the plates she was holding. Later on, after we get a text that our table is almost ready we come back and one of the other waitress' tells us that she dropped the plates earlier because she was staring at me. Couldn't have been a more subtle and awesome compliment lol

Hi "SURFER* (swoon), whoever you are, I'm single.

My co-workers (mostly women, and I'm a man) always say I'm going to be a great housewife. They say it as a joke, but also serious. I love to clean, cook, do laundry and dishes. Not as a hobby, but if I have the chance, I'll do any of it and enjoy it.

I'm single and 25 years old, but really am looking forward to starting a family and these comments make me happy.

Edit: You would never expect me to be like this. I'm a 25-year-old surfer that definitely does not look the part of a clean freak at all.

Effortlessly making people laugh feels so good.

"He is really funny without trying to be funny" helped raise my self-esteem.

Gay dudes don't mess around with compliments.

My partner once told me that he appreciates compliments from his gay colleagues the most because they know what it takes for a guy to put himself together well. Glad you got that bit of a boost :)

As someone who suffered with bad acne, complimenting my skin is a big confidence booster.

Told me they loved my skin. I was having major self-esteem issues given my acne. Never skipped on using skincare products again.

I wish I had nice handwriting.

In 7th grade, the guy I had a crush on complimented me on my handwriting. Besides making me happy to the point that I kept thinking about it for that entire week, it motivated me to keep up my handwriting practice and make effort to write even better. In retrospect, it was just a simple offhand compliment, but it's the one that has stuck with me and it somehow made me happier than any compliment on my outfits or hair or nails has ever made me since then.

Mom was complimenting both of you :)

"I must've done something right raising you"

-My mother complimenting me on my mothering. Best damn compliment I've had so far. Thanks Mom.

Been there... it's the most motivating thing.

Recently, "I didn't recognize you." - I've been losing weight.

When your confidence is appreciated, it makes you more confident.

A while back I got, "You don't care what people think." Actually, I was ultra self-conscious and constantly trying to act confident. That was the last nudge I needed to actually feel confident instead of just pretending.