Most meaningful compliment or most crushing insult ever received?

I believe insults affect the majority of us most. As humans, living in a negative atmosphere has conditioned us over time to pay more attention to the bad about ourselves rather than the good, whether that be compliments we receive or seeing the beauty in ourselves. Generally, compliments are brushed off and forgotten about whereas criticism lingers in our mind for who knows how long. In my case, I still regularly think about harmful things people have said to me or about me in anger from as far back as my primary school years, and they still affect me.

I can't really help you on being complimentary since nothing is coming to mind at the moment - I just tend to say it as I see it to people in terms of positive things. On the other hand I can help you with avoiding little accidental criticisms. The key thing is to consider how the person you are talking to will read your words, especially over the internet where you can't read body language or tone. The inclusion of some simple words can entirely affect the tone of your sentence, such as "only".

For example:
"I can't believe you drive that car" versus "I can't believe you only drive that car." Suddenly you've got a snarky comment even if you didn't mean it. Think about how *the other person* will read your tone.

OH MY GOD SCOTLAND JUST SCORED AGAINST GERMANY WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Insults that touch your very character are much more painful than those that touch your skills or body.
Most of us at the very least hold out hope that our skills and body are changeable parts of us and at the very worst fear we are chained to any character flaws we might have. Having those insulted implies something is intrinsically and forever wrong with our deeper self.

A really mean insult to me was "if you weren't pretty nobody would ever love you".
My favorite compliment was "you have a kindness that is rare and make me feel better about myself just by smiling."

It depends on whose giving the insults/compliments.

The insults dont really make sense unless you're in my shoes. Like comparisons, I feel slightly insulted when I'm compared to another girl from a significant other, if the girl I'm being compared to is their ex or current fling.

Like during cuddling with someone you've cuddled with before and then cuddling with them again after months and they play with your hair, and when you ask them not to they respond with "ohh so and so liked it when I played with her hair, my bad" It's the type of insult I would brush under the rug but feel kind of hurt by, it's like that person doesn't care about the things you liked during cuddling.

Also I guess it's not really an insult to me, but whenever a guy talks bad about his ex, I think less of that guy?

Compliments like the occasional, "you look beautiful", "you're not like anyone I've ever met" and the best compliment is the silent compliment, it's just a look or pat on the back or an unexpected hug or a smile. Also putting others needs before your own sometimes can be a compliment in itself, it just shows you care, which makes that person feel good!

That wasnt as small as i was expecting

Someone once said to me that I shouldn`t have children because the world didn`t need a lot of inferior people running around in the future. I really got mad at that one because how could anyone know what was in my family gene pool, especially the thing that said it to me, it had an ugly face and a deformed hand, so who was the inferior one?

My boss is always sarcastic. It's one joke after another. You never know when he is being serious. One day he gives me this "I'm so impressed" line that I just fed it back to him with a sarcastic arrogance. He went straight faced, changed his tone, and repeated, "no howie, I mean it, you are really impressive." I was floored.

He did it again too. I asked him to ask the board to give me paid maternity leave. They said no at first, but because he loved my argument and rationality so much that he is fighting for me. I am flattered that he would go to the trouble for me. So it isnt just words that can be complimentary, but actions too.

People cling onto negativity a lot more than positiveness.

Most insults come from people who don't know you or care about you at all. Most compliments come from those whose opinion you value.
It is extremely rare for anyone to make any comment on how you handle a vessel to your face (if you screw up, everybody will talk about it behind your back, for sure). Therefor, it was very satisfying (and a little embarrassing) to get a standing ovation from our guests, a dozen or so CEO's from some of the nation's largest corporations, when I docked the yacht at the Chicago Yacht Club.

I'm a natural born victim the only way I can avoid insults is by hiding away in my fortress of solitude and plotting my revenge against the world.