Reddit, what’s something that stuck with you that the person who said it probably never realized would have an impact?

1. My older brother told me once, after our dog died, that "No matter how sad death is the world will keep spinning. Tomorrow will come, nothing and no one will stop it". It was meant to be a tough love moment, and definitely meant to have an impact. Years later when I was in high school he died in a car accident, and his words were the only thing I could find comfort in. He couldn't have known a simple "teach my brother a lesson" type talk about our deceased pet would be what would drive me through the darkest moments of my life. Edit: thank you everyone for the kind words and messages. Remember that it's okay to mourn, and don't bottle up your emotions. It doesn't make you more of a man to not cry over a loss, remember that even Achilles wept when his cousin died.
   — Soviet_Duckling


2. In high school I was pretty quiet and of the few friends I had, they were great friends. Well my senior year I'm not in the same lunch period as any of my friends so most of the time I'm sitting alone, slowly watching the empty chairs at my table be dragged away to another table that needed them. Well one of my friends always studied during lunch on block day with a teacher, one of the only days that I had the same period as a friend. Sometimes he would skip his study session to sit by me and near the end of the year during one such instance, he said to me real seriously, "a lot of people at this school just don't see you, and I understand how you feel. But I want you to know that I see you." And that has stuck with me since and I can't get out of my head how nice that was of him, but also how it put everything in perspective to me.
   — wisconsinb5


3. I have two sisters. One that I consider to be my human, my soul twin, the smartest woman I know. The other one, whom I love just as much, is... different. We just don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things and we are very different people so we don’t connect on a deeper level. This isn’t a snag on her, I do love her, she just drives me bonkers a great deal of the time. When my divorce was finalized I was crushed. Even with a year of separation that had been relatively calm I still felt war-torn. During the separation I had moved in with my more detached sister who had also gotten divorced the previous year; she wasn’t someone I would confide in very often about my feelings on my marriage because she was still very raw from her own. On this day though I couldn’t hold it in and I couldn’t hide it. When I got home from work she sat with me in my room on my bed and just stayed quiet (not like her) until I blurted out everything I was feeling through sobs that racked my entire body. I honestly don’t even know how she could understand anything I was saying but she just held my hand and continued to stay silent. When I was all done I looked at her and I said, “what am I supposed to do now?” She squeezed my hand and said, “you can’t finish your book if you keep re-reading this chapter.” It is to this day one of the most meaningful things anyone has ever said to me. Edit... thank you so much to everyone reading this. I hope whatever you are going through that this resonates with you. It’s your book, turn the page
   — angylic






4. 8th grade teacher: “Character is how you act when no one is looking”. Probably haven’t gone a week without thinking about it or it affecting my decision making since. That was 15 years ago
   — Sidney_Fields


5. I was an asshole teenager working at a movie theatre. We hired this guy, let's call him Kevin, older guy in comparison to a lot of the people there. I was talkin shit about this kid in the lobby for no particular reason and Kevin doesn't say anything the whole time. I finally finish my bitter trash talk and Kevin says "do you feel better now?"
   — KanyeNorthwest_


6. One of my favourites is “An entire ocean of water cannot sink a ship, unless it gets inside the ship.” Never let the negativity surrounding you get into your head.
   — Fordezman






7. "If two or more people (that you trust) are telling you something, it's probably true". -My Mom. This has served me well in realizing I was making bad choices at different times in my life. I might not listen to *one* person, but I surely think about it more if several are trying to tell me the same thing.
   — Sparklersstars


8. "You only have to be brave for a second, the rest will take care of itself."
   — Shostylol


9. I am "successful" as in I have a job that sounds great and I make good money, but honestly I have been pretty miserable. I don't like my industry or the people, or the work. Every time I fly back home to visit, I am the "successful" guy visiting his old home town which is awkward in many ways. If you ever wanted to know who your real friends are, move far away (in my case to another country). It's really illuminating who keeps in touch, who makes a point to see you when you're in town, and who doesn't. Anyways, this guy that I barely knew *always* made a point to hang out and catch up when I was in town. He was genuinely interested in how I was and what was happening in my personal life. I barely knew the dude, but he always took interest in the important pieces. He wasn't doing so well himself - my hometown was having a bit of an economic downturn and he was laid off. He told me the story of how HR and security laid him off and wanted to walk him out, and he refused, said he wouldn't make a scene, but he wanted to say goodbye to his coworkers, hold his head high and leave with dignity. He was then unemployed for a long period but he had a smile on his face and said "No worries dude, I'll keep trying. I'll find something." He was thankful for his friends, his family, his fiance, all of his good fortune, in a position where most people would feel shit sorry for themselves. And while I'm sitting there having a beer with him, I realized that although I probably made literally 10x what he made (before being laid off) and on paper I was probably really successful compared to him, I would have traded everything to be him at that moment. At that moment I was deeply envious of him and his life. Ever since then I've tried to make it part of my life philosophy that when I am stressed out, I think "what would <name> do?" and it inevitably leads me towards something that makes me happier. This hasn't kept me on the previous path of always pursuing career success, but it's made me happier and happier. Not only that, it's made me a nicer and more tolerant person. I still honestly barely know the guy, but I think about him as a role model at least once a week. After writing this up, I promise I'll tell him the next time I see him.
   — Bran_Solo






10. You can love someone but not like them at the same time.
    — timmyturtle91


11. My dad told me "If you don't ask for what you want, you'll never get it." and it's the simplest statement but they're words I live by to this day. It applies to everything from relationships, jobs, business, just day to day life, it's mind blowing.
    — chill_chihuahua


12. “You have to be a friend to have a friend.” My mom told me this when I was a kid and it’s really stuck with me. Someone has to be the first one to reach out. It makes you a little vulnerable but it usually pays off.
    — catxcat310