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

1. 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.
   — person144


2. "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.
   — Cock-Monger


3. "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
   — DaniRainbow






4. 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.
   — N3MO_


5. "You're my favorite person to people-watch" Well, I'm not actually sure that was a compliment. And I'm also not sure how I feel about that.
   — arshon0029


6. Was working on cash and the guy came up and just looked at me for a sec. and he said wow you look so happy. I said why yes I am! And he said that I looked so happy it was making him happy. That made me feel very good inside
   — raebandzz






7. 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 “YOURE REALLY PRETTY” and bolts in the other direction. I have never been more flattered. Adults lie, they socially contract, they bullshit. 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
   — kharmatika


8. Walking a girl across campus at night-- "I feel safe when you're around."
   — 46from1971


9. 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.”
   — Thesuperkamakazee






10. "I really like you as a person, but I hate you as a student." My French teacher told me this when I was in high school, during this period where I was really depressed and on the verge of failing out. Having her be so honest with me and pointing out that I was wasting my potential made me want to do better and I did turning my grades completely around in a semester.
    — -eDgAR-


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


12. So I hate my smile. My teeth are off colored and uneven, I have brown lines/cracks in some of my teeth. I don't really smile much but when I do it's a closed mouth kind of smirk, as my nana says. I was at dance (ballroom) a few weeks ago, and got a pretty difficult step on the first go round. My instructer said "wow! How did you do that!" Which... honestly still feels really good. I love dancing, but sometimes I feel like his worse student even though he says I'm good. I beamed, because it made me really happy. When we sat down to go over what we'd done that day, one of the other teachers came over and told me that I have a beautiful smile, and I should smile more. It's such a small thing, but I can't get over it. Second one is more funny then anything. So I'm overweight. Not obese, but definitley fat. 5'2 and 150 lbs. I'm trying to lose weight but I stress eat really badly. I was wearing a shirt that had a stickfigure on a bike being chased by a bear, and it said MEALS ON WHEELS. My teacher read it, and said that I would be 'a scrawny meal for bears'. It's minor, and definitely not what he meant, but it still makes me feel really good.
    — BlackiceKoz






13. 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.
    — TubaFiend