Clever gets a laugh at lunch. Kind gets remembered at the ten-year reunion.

Wit works immediately and evaporates just as fast. A sharp line wins the table for thirty seconds; what people still carry a decade later is who was decent to them on a day they were struggling, which registers slowly and never fades. The two are not opposed, but only one of them lasts.

When you have the option of the funny remark or the kind one, notice that you are choosing. Take the laugh when it costs nobody anything. When it would land on a person, take the other option, because that is the one that gets remembered.