A teacher said one sentence to a student twenty years ago and it’s still on that student’s wall. Words travel.

Words outlast the moment they were said in, often by decades. A sentence that cost the speaker nothing can be carried for a lifetime by whoever received it, and the person who said it has usually forgotten by the following week. You rarely find out which of yours landed that way.

Say the good thing out loud when you notice it, rather than assuming the person already knows. Be specific, because a general compliment slides off and a precise one sticks. Consider telling someone whose sentence you are still carrying, since they almost certainly have no idea.