I can remember one time when I was having what I considered the worst day of my life. Somebody out of my class stopped to talk to me and gave me a smile that I really needed. This was a person I don't normally talk to, but the fact that this person stopped to talk to me meant everything to me. That person may not remember it, but it left an impact on my heart. Every time I see that person I think of the time when simple, caring words made my day go from awful to not so bad.
Words can also hurt.
Hateful and nasty words can be remembered forever, too. One of my good friends was talking about a time in grade school when a boy made fun of her all the time, and now she remembers it every time they are in a class together still today. We all know of that thing called gossip, telling one person what you heard about another that they heard about another, just because we have nothing better to talk about. The worst thing about gossip is it is usually about 75 percent false. We forget in our line of repeating things to each other that we may be ruining somebody's reputation.