What was the best compliment you ever received?

most memorable, maybe not best -- my stepgrandmother gave me, in front of my stepfather, a birthday card, the front of which read: "of all the people I know" and the inside "you're the closest to normal." 'You get what I mean, don't you?" she twinkled, and her son smiled. "Yes," I giggled. "I totally get it." It was a subtle dig on my mom, my brother, and my mom's religious family.

Tie:

"You've got guts" (my friend's late Father)

"You're the best time I've had with my clothes on AND off" (hiking partner)

A famous author said I was good looking

Considering the present circumstances, my doctor a few years ago said that I had the lungs of a young man.

Straight guy: If you were a girl I’d take out my shotgun and marry you.

A snotty but smart girl in my college Art History class told me I had a face right out of a Renaissance painting.

I'm not ugly but I'm rarely considered conventionally good-looking (particularly by other gay men), so I'll take it.

#1 TOP!

Not the best compliment, perhaps, but I knew this couple of guys, each of whom I used to be fuck buddies with. They used to ask me if I'd let them have a dildo made of my cock, they liked it so much.

That I have great legs. Compliment from a Rockette.

Bryan Ferry's vocals are so far above the average rock star that when I first heard "Flesh & Blood" I began learning that style. Anyways, one arvo I had a Roxy album playing in my room and my mother popped her head in asked if that was me singing.

The second most but in some ways more important was the Parisian French I spoke to in French told me I had a beautiful accent and spoke the language well. I'd only spoken it here i the USA and with my oldest friend's husband, who is French, because his English is terribly slow, so my French was free of any cultural slang.

But to receive unsolicited praise was something I never expected.

A tie: My great aunt told me I have "beautiful features." A girl who attended high school in my class told someone years later that I was "sooo handsome." I'm flattered by the comments, but I consider myself quite ordinary.

At a Boston book signing in December of 1980, Gloria Swanson told me I had a beautiful smile.

A very hot, very good-looking, very straight friend told me, "If I were ever to have sex with a man, you would be the one I'd choose."

Still waiting - some day...!

At a house party where I was wearing flip flops (this was in Atlanta), a foot doctor told me I had well-formed feet!

I once had someone tell me they wished they could turn my handwriting into a font.

I thought it was an odd but appreciated compliment.

R6, you are good looking, though. You’re almost up to “hot” level.

As a lot of these show, sometimes it’s just a little compliment that you not only remember but they make your day.

For me, someone who loves to make people laugh, certain people saying “you’re funny” is a great compliment to me.

I give as many compliments as possible, why not? You can always find something nice to say, even if it's just to compliment the colour someone is wearing. I saw a woman on the street wearing an expensive Ermanno Schervino scarf (no logos, plain colour) and went up to her and asked her about it. You should have seen how happy that made her, that someone recognised her style and investment. I LOVE complimenting older or even very elderly women and seeing them glow with pleasure.

I like you, r18.

We need more you in this world nowadays.

R18, I totally agree. My great aunt is 87 years old. Although she is not in the best of health, she looks younger than her age. She has lovely skin, with few lines, thick hair, and large, green eyes. I visit her frequently, and one day not long ago I was looking through some of her photo albums. I noticed how striking she was as a young woman, not just striking, but extremely attractive. I said to her, "You were a beautiful young woman!"

She was amazed, and told me that nobody had ever told her that before. You should have seen her face - she was glowing with happiness. She came from a family where compliments were few, but I was surprised that nobody had ever told her that she was attractive.

That I have a hot ass.

“What’s it like knowing that you can sleep with anyone you want?”

I’m a “hates compliments” kinda guy so that one really threw me for a loop. But over time, I’ve come to appreciate that someone found me attractive enough to say something like that.

But R20, why not compliment her now? It's bittersweet to be told you were once beautiful, because that's saying you no longer are. Better than nothing, but still....

It is quite lovely to be complimented for your skills at aggressive topping.

I was riding the train in London and talking to a family. The young boy was asking me questions when he stopped and just exclaimed: "You're a handsome man!" It made my day, I told him "and you have excellent taste." His mother just laughed.

I used to get compliments about my eyes, which I always thought were a boring brown. So that's nice. But I think the tricks that tell me how big my dick is are just trying to keep me coming back.

We were doing an exercise at a work retreat where we had to come up with a compliment for each of our colleagues. One coworker said I am very generous. I had never thought that of myself before that, but as I considered it, I understood it was true. And it has made me try to be even more generous from that day on. So a compliment can have a positive reinforcing effect.

R23, I agree, but I have complimented her many times, just didn't include that info. Previously, I had been more specific and referring to her as she is now- compliments on her youthful skin, her thick, healthy hair, her beautiful eyes. The point was, that when she was young, she received absolutely no positive feedback from her family or even her friends regarding her appearance, and had never considered herself attractive.

Not necessarily a compliment - but a funny comment: "You've got a big dick for a white guy." Told to me by a black man. My reply was "If I were black, it would still be considered a big dick." He laughed and said, "You're right."

"You could suck a golfball through a garden hose."

I once got:

DAT’S DA SUCK JOB!!!!

A plaque from my staff when I was changing jobs “To a kind, generous, highly principled man”. Always valued those traits - so meant a lot.

A hung top once called me "Shirley" while he was pounding my ass in a filthy truck-stop restroom. I took it as a compliment.

I'm a bit of an eccentric and too much of a "weirdo" for most people to handle. But one time I had someone tell me that I make them feel like they can be anything they want to be because of the way I am my own person without worrying what other people may think about it.

Every one of you has the ability to create a lasting, positive impact in the lives of the people you love, as well as people you barely know.

Eye doctors and optometrics tell me I have a symmetrical face. "Astonishingly symmetrical" made me blush.

One of my first times slinking into a lesbian bar, two salty broads barked me over to tell me I looked like Cyd Charisse. (I do not.)

I can live two months on a good compliment.

One from an eye doctor: "I look at eyes all day long, but I rarely see eyes as beautiful as yours." Guess what? He's my life partner now. It was our second date, and not surprisingly, our first time was that night. :-)

But you do, r21.

It’s one of the things I like about you.

That truly is a great compliment, R34.

"You're ugly and your mother dresses you funny."

"Your taste is of the highest order."

"You have the perfect cock for anal" -- twice, from different partners.

I have big balls.

A hook up once told me “If your balls were any bigger you could probably get on disability“

We laughed, then I fucked him.

Two:

1. Pete Rose's drunk first wife told me I was cute.

2. My urologist, during a cystoscopy, told me that my bladder was " pristine."

Hey, who could ask for anything more?

My internal customer/business partner once told me that “Tony” was doing a great job. Who, I said? Your employee, he said. Actually, Tony was my new boss. And he really was doing a great job. Later, my one-over boss gave me stock at year-end, and told me not to tell tony, as he did not get stock.

I had two separate jobs where, when I gave notice, my boss in one case, and a business partner in the other case, both audibly moaned in distress. Also happened when I turned one job offer down. I’ve had a good life, I must say. Why don’t I have more money?

[quote]My urologist, during a cystoscopy, told me that my bladder was " pristine."

But was it "showroom new?"

A hunk on the water polo team who had not said two words to me in high school wrote in my senior yearbook in 1979 that I looked like Parker Stevenson. A South African gay male nurse in Worcester, MA I was having sex with - he wore a gold krugerrand around his neck - told me I was a dead ringer for John F. Kennedy, Jr. This was 1981. Neither was true, but it was nice to be able to feed some fantasies.

Molly Ivins told me I was "a treasure."

“I always wish I had dated you.”

From a FB who saw me years later. I had found a great partner by then

I went to the urgent care clinic for a cut on my leg this past January, the MD who treated me couldn't believe I was 40. He kept saying he was going to diagnose me with "youthful gene". I get mistaken for being college-age a lot. Maybe it's my Asian half of the genes but hopefully it keeps up until I'm old.

[quote] I always wish I had dated you.

I don't see that as a compliment. He's presuming that you would have dated him. (You could have said no.) Also, if someone really wants someone, they will muster up the courage to ask them out on a date. He was probably too busy plotting about the prom king.

A tie, both about my performance as a manager and both given to me as feedback in an annual review:

"He is the best manager I've ever had. Joining his team was the best decision I've ever made."

"I've never seen a team go from 0 to 60 so quickly and so effectively."

I worked at a bank in my twenties. I was a consistently friendly and outgoing employee. One day, I became visibly annoyed and flustered while dealing with an asshole of a customer. After the jerk left, a regular came up to me and said, "Ignore him. Please don't ever change."

I remember another one: before I worked at the bank I had a part-time job at the college I was attending. Many years later, I ran into a former student who occasionally used the services in the dept. where I was employed. She greeted me with my first name but I had forgotten hers. I apologized to her for forgetting her name and said I was surprised she remembered mine.

She said she remembered because it was easy. "Who could forget you?"

I, too, try to give a compliment as often as I can. Who doesn't want to hear a nice thing about themselves?

A number of people have told me that I am one of the least judgmental persons they know, and they can tell me anything and I would not think less of them. One friend told me that she had beenin a bondage relationship. A co worker confided that he was a heroin addict. Etc. I didn't flinch or treat them differently, and they told me years later how much that mattered to them. I appreciated that.

Also: a Twyla Tharp dancer asked me to dance at a bar in Nantucket,, because she liked the way I danced. That also thrilled me in the extreme because Tharp is my favorite choreographer.

As I was exiting a department store a distracted woman was entering and accidentally bumped my arm and said "I'm sorry" and I said "That's quite alright" and she turned around and said loudly "There's the voice of a gentleman." Cracks me up still.

Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising - but it is sad the proportion of comments that are about looks. Is that really what you remember when you look back on your life - that someone said you were pretty or looked younger than you are? How vapid.

When I was maybe 12 or 13, after I sang in church, a woman came up to me and said, "You're much too pretty to be a boy." I didn't what to say - though I did think boys were pretty by then. When I was 16, a girl I knew told her boyfriend, "See his eyes. See how blue they are? That's the color I want my class ring to be."

In college, I did volunteer work with special ed kids. I always thought one of the teachers didn't care too much for me. I was wimpy and she dated professional football players.

I ran into her and her husband at a party years later. She asked what I was doing for living. I told her programming and she said something like, too bad. She then turned to her husband and said, "I've told you about [me]. He's the one who would have been such a great special ed teacher."

That truly was the best compliment I've ever received.

I was told I was likeable enough by Barack Obama!

When I was in HS, my 4H leader told me he wished he had a son like me. He had seven sons.

In what ways are you eccentric and a weirdo, R34? I’m curious about what that could mean, and as I’m writing a play I’m always looking for new character inspiration.

[quote] R59: Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising - but it is sad the proportion of comments that are about looks. Is that really what you remember when you look back on your life - that someone said you were pretty or looked younger than you are? How vapid.

[quote] R60: When I was maybe 12 or 13, after I sang in church, a woman came up to me and said, "You're much too pretty to be a boy." I didn't what to say - though I did think boys were pretty by then. When I was 16, a girl I knew told her boyfriend, "See his eyes. See how blue they are? That's the color I want my class ring to be."

I'm sorry, R60, but those two replies coming in back-to-back made me laugh.

That was the best $50 I ever spent. Is best compliment lady architect can get.

I notice that little kids and animals are comfortable around me. I take that as a compliment.

I should have married you.

Ex boyfriend who dumped me years earlier.

R^%: Yeah, well, I was pretty insecure as a kid - I was embarrassed by my VERY thick black-rimmed nerd glasses and I knew I was "different." So having people compliment my looks was very memorable to me - no matter how vapid.

I was asked by a NY madam to be an high end escort for the owner of a huge US company back in the late 70s. He was actually going to set me up as his "mistress"

One of my neighbours adopted a Mexican rescue dog with an intense, violent hatred for all men, probably due to how he'd been treated while a street dog in Mexico. No problem with women, just a bit skittish. Terribly afraid of water, someone must have tried to drown him or something before he was taken in. Long story short, I turned out to be the first man he took a liking to, after much effort (and also some bribes in the form of bacon and bits of chicken). Soon enough he loved me and still does and comes over to play with my dogs a few times a week.

That dog choosing to trust me and show it was by far the best compliment I've ever received, and I'm the only man he likes to this day, though he's improved a lot.

"That'll do, Pig, That'll do."

'You don't sweat much for a fat guy."

I once had someone ask me if I ever got tired of being the most interesting person in the room.

I don't like receiving compliments, but in this case I could only smile and say, "No."

Three, each important in their own way. #1, I was a waiter for a long time and a fairly famous chef came in now and then. I would wait on her group frequently. I wouldn't buzz around or make a big deal of her but just made sure her guests were comfortable. She said to me one night, "You're amazing to watch. The skill you show on the floor and the care you extend to your guests is amazing." (Slightly paraphrased.)

#2: I have a friend who has a massive social circle in a big city where she knows people across the entire social, political, and cultural spectrum. She tells me deeply personal things, she is the one who calls me usually, and we bounce ideas off one another. She told me that my kindness and generosity of spirit are things she cherishes.

#3: Quite a while ago I had bone marrow cancer. I got the diagnosis on my birthday after months of "what the hell is going on?" The oncologist delivered the news to me in front of many interns (it's a rare disease so they were all in on it) and outlined a course of action. I underwent one regimen of chemotherapy after another for about 6 months until one finally worked. It then took another 8-10 months of 3-4 times a week to go into full remission. I never fell apart and I maintained a sense of humor. The oncologist once said in front of a subsequent group of interns that I had shown remarkable maturity in hearing of my diagnosis and that, by pledging myself to full compliance, I became a great partner in becoming healthy.

I am often plagued by self-doubt and insecurity, but hearing such gracious words from three people I admire is nice to keep in my back pocket.

R75 - loved your post - not matter how long it was...

That was long, R75, but interesting. I know it's basic, but the separate paragraphs helped.

I was going to a grad school buddy’s wedding - I never dress up, but I had bought a very nice new suit since my only one was from HS graduation. Walking through a not great neighborhood in Hollywood kid on a bike rode up to me and said “Hey Mister, are you a movie star?” Later at the wedding my friends mom told me I looked “beautiful.”

An ex once told me, "The more I get to know you, the more beautiful you seem."

I held a building door for the middle aged woman exiting behind me.

She smiled and said "Your mother did a good job."

My mother had just died two weeks prior. I teared up.

"You could stand to lose a few."

What an insensitive bitch that woman was R80! I hope you kicked her in the pussy bone!

When I was leaving an old job for a new one, a coworker who I only worked with sporadically (we worked on different floors), said to me that even though we rarely worked together she was always glad to know that I was in the building. Another co-worker with whom I had a rather volitile relationship, told my manager (after I left) that "When Gage was here, shit got done"

[quote] Too long I know

Not when it was as important and well written as it was.

Someone told me that they heard the voice of God speaking through me.

You know, spree killers get a bad rep, but some of them are very charming.

I was told by the hottest guy I ever had sex with that my asshole was the most perfect hole he'd ever seen or fucked. Coming from someone who'd obviously seen and fucked his fair share (and I'd seen some of the incredibly hot guys he'd fucked before and after me), this was sort of sweet in it's own odd way.

[quote] When I was leaving an old job for a new one, a coworker ... said ... that ... she was always glad to know that I was in the building. Another co-worker ... told my manager[:] "When Gage was here, shit got done[.]"

If people would acknowledge each other in a timely fashion, maybe people wouldn't have to quit jobs, etc.

I was performing in a touring show and an elderly man came up to me after the show and told me how hard we'd made him laugh and that he needed it because he'd just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and we were able to make him laugh and take his mind off of it for 2 hours. That one's always stuck with me over the years. Us folks in the arts might not be rocket scientists, but if we can take people's minds off of all the horror going on in their own lives, that's nothing to sneeze at. I think of it now since we're all stuck at home and the only thing helping us get through it are TV shows, books, movies, music, etc.

My parents and I ran into a former teacher of mine (from 6th grade) when we were out and about on Sunday when I was in 7th or 8th grade and she took my face in her hands and said "don't ever change." She'd been diagnosed with cancer and died a few months later, but I'll always remember that. I think about that a lot and hope I haven't changed for the worse.

[quote] sweet in it's own odd way.

Oh, dear!

That I had animal magnetism .

Does that mean you attract animals?

Christ.

The invasion of the sub-Frauen is complete.

"Oh, RXXX, your separation of your post into individual paragraphs made your many memorable compliments SO accessible."

Fuck this shit.

I've had 2 different eye doctors say I have great Iris'.

Your ass is good enough to build a condo on

Nope, R93, you're not going to ruin the vibe here just because you've decided that DL can be only one type of board.

I've been told I'm handsome, that my cum load is delicious, and that I got good dick. Interesting.

I was sitting with my father on his death bed several nights in a row. He rallied and said "You were a really great son, thank you " then went back into his drug coma. He died that night.

R98 That’s beautiful. You must be a beautiful person. Sorry for your loss. Whenever it was, I know it always is there.

I was such a teachers’ pet - yes, teachers’ - who got paid compliments by them all the time, I was despised by all my school mates.

Your preparation is excellent.

Today is my birthday. I received email from my credit union. They told me they love having me as a member.

Every time I go to my dentist, he makes a point of how beautiful my teeth are. I assume it's because he's the one that installed them.

The best she ever had.

We do too, r102.

We do too.

A redneck backwoodsman once told me I had a pretty mouth. His buddies laughed and agreed. I was thrilled to be at the center of such attention.

"At least you don't have corona."

R106 = Ned Beatty

I've been out since I was 19. I'm 52 now. I worked at the same company for about 8-9 years from my 20s through my early 30s. When I quit to try something else, on my last day a co-worker told me that just by me being me, I had changed her opinion about gay people. She talked to her rural family about this guy she knew at work who was out and proud and didn't make any big deal about his sexuality. He talked about his partner very casually like people talk about their spouses. He answered questions for her she had about gay people. She told me that by simply knowing me, she had completely changed her world view on gay people, and she was trying to do the same for her rural family. That was one of the nicest things I've ever heard.

I overheard my closest friend talking about me with another friend.

“Hey, yeah he’s a fucking dick but he would literally give you the shirt off his back. I know he’s a cunt but there’s no one in this world I’d rather have my back.”

The dick and cunt part made me happy.

I've been told I'm good at giving people vocation and purpose.

For as handsome as I was, I was even nicer.

[quote] I've been out since I was 19. I'm 52 now.

Why? Did you get lost on the way home? We can help you. Where are you now?

So r110 fucks his friends while half-naked. Good to know.

When my husband said "I do" to the judge.

See, that would upset me, r115.

I mean, shouldn’t he be saying that to you?

Had just celebrated my 2nd year of sobriety and wanted to fix my smile.

After 15 years of active meth addiction, with a mouthful of cracked and missing teeth, the dentist said,

“Well, they’re not that bad, but not that good either”.

Actually, I have gotten three great compliments:

1) A black woman at work told me that I had great skin tone. I was out running everyday, tanned, and well oxygenated.

2) I have been repeatedly told that I have great taste in clothes.

3) Having been on the heavy side most of my life, I really cranked up the workouts. I was supposed to meet someone I had never met but spoken to many times at a convention. When he asked a friend to point me out, I was described as the "tall, lean, muscular guy over there." Never thought I would be described as lean!

Unbeknownst to us uniform deputies, the female records clerks and other civilian personnel at my department decided to have a secret "cute butt" contest to determine which of us male deputies had the nicest ass. A vote was taken and I won—actually by a fairly large margin. I was completely stoked.

I have been told by a coworker/boss that I had a "quiet, calming presence". Since I'm pretty much in a state of constant internal freakout, I was really happy to know I was that good at faking it.

I grew up in a mostly white neighborhood and was the only one with darker skin in my class. Some older girls used to compliment me on my skin tone and eyes. Never the boys, though. I still get random compliments from little old ladies, about my skin, eyes and smile. And still nothing from guys.

R119 You could have at least posted a pic, mister Best Butt.

I used to get sugared and the guy used to basically strip me bare down there. He commented mid sugar that I had a really nice looking hole. Believe it or not, it wasn’t a lascivious come on. It was a simple compliment. It’s the little things.

[quote] It’s the little things.

Is that what he said about the front?

An employer once said to me, "Do you realize you never do what I tell you to do? You're just lucky your ideas are 10 times better than mine." (It was a creative profession.)

That was years ago and I've never forgotten it.

R116 That's why you're single, Rose...

At my peak of beauty in my 30’s in a nightclub- a stunning drag queen gasped at the sight of me, clutched my head with both hands, and held my face up to the light- examining my nose with disbelief as though she had found a lost piece of fine sculpted art. She quickly asked which doctor, and was told it was real.

I got this all the time when I was thin and gorgeous. Sigh.

Hey wait a minute buster, at R126, that's the story of MY life. Maybe it was the same drag queen and it was her shtick.

But the last time it happened, many moons ago, I was in my late 30s and it was two gorgeous twinks who did it, and it wasn't just my impeccable nose but my dewy, ageless skin covering my finely sculpted face, and my elongated lithe body, untouched by gravity. They must have been proto-dataloungers because they were both sweet and then snarky about it when they learned my age. As if they had discovered a skillful subterfuge.

[quote] You have received 10409 WW votes

My favorite response to a compliment: When the director of Whales of August said to Gish that her close-up was wonderful. Bette said, 'Well it should be she invented them!'

When I was a freshman, an elderly college professor gave a buddy and me a ride into town. She looked at both of us in her rear view mirror and said we were the most beautiful guys she’d ever seen. No, she wasn’t hitting on us. I remember her sounding simply awed. Yeah we were pretty awesomely good looking lol.

Shallow but it was from the hot straight guy at my new job. He said, "You're a really good looking guy, you will have no problems finding a boyfriend." I just about melted inside because I had moved out of my conservative town to the big city, started a new job, didn't hide my sexuality, and could have a casual conversation with a straight co-worker about my dating life without lies or non-gender pronouns. It's shallow but it was one of my (rather stupid) markers on my coming out journey comfort with being my true self. I refuse to ever move back to the backwards parts of this country.

I'm a teacher. A few years ago, I got a large envelope in the mail at school. Inside was a set of xeroxed pages with a hand-written note: "I know it's against all the rules, but I thought you should read this." It was an essay written by a high school senior for the state writing test. The topic was "the person who most influenced your life" -and he had written about his third grade teacher -me. I had been teaching for twenty years, and never felt so successful. The person who sent it to me had blacked-out the student's name, so I was never quite sure who had written it. If this person had been caught copying a test paper s/he would have been fired on the spot -It was a great risk. But it was a once-in-a-career kind of moment.

I was like 22 at a Kylie Minogue concert. (Mary! I know) Dude came up to me and my friends, handed my a business card and said to call if I was interested in being a model.

Whether he was legit or a perv, I felt HOT.

Wow. Those last two were fantastic!

R134 was meant for r132 and r131.

"Fuck, I'm going to feel you all week."

Aw, man. These last few have been really lovely. Just the bit of positivity I needed today. Thank you for sharing those.

I had a similar experience when I was just starting to come out in college and my female friend's straight boyfriend couldn't understand why I was single. He sad "you're totally hot. If I was gay, I'd totally want to fuck you." I thought it was really sweet and it helped that he was absolutely beautiful himself. Made me think that, if someone as beautiful as him could find me attractive, maybe I was sort of cute.

R135, well I hope the next time YOU’RE at a Kylie Minogue concert I hope NOBODY hands you any business cards with modeling propositions! Fatty!

I was working out at the Y in Boca Raton where my mother was living and I was sitting on a bench between sets being depressed about my life and in a meditative mood. I had my knees together with my elbow on one of them and my chin was resting of the fist of my hand and was dressed in short gym shorts and an entirely sleeveless workout shirt. I was very sad and in a deep funk and suddenly an old woman came up to me startling me. She said 'You look exactly like that statue The Thinker! If I had a camera I would take a picture of you!' It completely bewildered me.

I should add that only now I see it as a compliment. At the time I smiled and said thank you but I was really thinking 'What in the world are you talking about?!'