Giving a thoughtful compliment does more good than we realize.

• Why it matters: A compliment can have a larger impact on the recipient than anticipated, psychologist Erica Boothby writes, based on her research.

But saying something nice, particularly to a stranger, requires getting up the nerve, Axios' Carly Mallenbaum writes.

• Surveys indicate that 90% of people think they should compliment each other more often, but many don't, Boothby says.
• They worry about how to deliver the compliment, for instance, she says.
• "Especially with British people, they would be more at home with an insult," says British comedian Milo McCabe, whose videos as enthusiastic complimenter Troy Hawke have gone viral.

As for what makes a quality compliment, there's an art to it, according to McCabe.

• "Sincerely appreciating something someone has made an effort on will make their day," he says.

Here are some memorable compliments shared by Axios Local readers from around the country:

After a car service employee complimented her "gorgeous" hair, Axios Austin reader Joanna Luna decided to open up about her alopecia.

• "We went on to have a long, delightful chat.… This compliment has motivated me to be more of an ambassador for hair loss and wig wearing," Joanna tells Axios.

After his college Glee Club sang in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Axios Portland reader TJ Carlson was told by a monk: "I've been here for five years, and that's the best sound I've ever heard in there."

• Carlson says that compliment has stuck with him for over 20 years.

Axios Tampa Bay reader Charlotte Kibert had just gotten off a tough work call last week when a woman in the park complimented her "super chic and stylish" outfit.

• The comment turned Charlotte's day around, she tells Axios, so she's "started randomly complimenting people on simple things, to spread the love forward."

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Tonight's photo — which comes to us from our colleagues at Axios Portland — was taken by an 18-year-old in Oregon who's recovering from drug addiction and is two months sober.

• The teen, who is part of Collective Roots, a family recovery group, says there's joy in "appreciating the world."
• "Like embracing the realization that the world doesn't owe you anything, but it can give you a lot — and it does."

Read on.