What is the best piece of advice a complete stranger ever gave you?

[BigDog_Fan]

Some of the most useful advice people carry around for years did not come from a parent, teacher or close friend at all, but from a genuinely random encounter with a stranger, someone met once on a train, in a queue, at a bar, or during a difficult moment, who happened to say exactly the right thing at exactly the right time without any real stake in the outcome themselves. There is something about advice from someone with no ongoing relationship to protect that can occasionally land with a directness that people closer to us sometimes struggle to manage.

It does not have to be anything profound or life changing on paper, sometimes it is a single offhand comment that just happened to arrive at the right moment in someone's life. What is the best piece of advice a complete stranger ever gave you, and do you think it would have landed the same way coming from someone you actually knew well?

[Matt77]

An older man on a delayed train once told me nobody on their deathbed regrets the risks they actually took, only the ones they were too scared to try. Still think about that one regularly.

[Inland Renegade]

A hiking stranger once told me the mountain will still be there tomorrow, so there is no shame in turning back today. Applies to a lot more than hiking honestly.

[DarkRock99]

A stranger at a bus stop once told me to stop apologising so much for taking up space. Small comment but it genuinely changed how I carry myself in rooms.

[Callum28]

An elderly woman queuing at the pharmacy once told me grief does not actually get smaller, you just get bigger around it. That stuck with me more than any grief counselling I ever received.

[Foden]

A taxi driver once gave me completely unsolicited career advice that turned out to be more useful than anything a paid consultant ever told me afterward

[ParallelSelf99]

Someone at a wedding I barely knew told me the people who actually show up consistently matter more than the people who say the nicest things. Simple but genuinely reshaped my friendships since