"Wise words often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away".
- Arthur Helps (1813 - 1875), an English writer and dean of the Privy Council, a formal body of advisers to the sovereign in the UK.
Surely this still applies today. We all receive supposedly intelligent advice from family, friends and colleagues. If you're anything like me, you will take most of it with a pinch of salt. If someone has experienced a particular subject (e.g. writing) I will listen, and possibly take the advice.
However, the rare occasion when someone says something out of pure kindness (for no particular reward); well, that's very different. We all need a bit of that...