I grew up and was friends with some smart people. Unfortunately when I tried to compliment them, it didn’t go so well.
The first person I tried to compliment was a guy that I knew through the classes we were taking. He was so smart, and when I told him that he was smart he denied it and thought I was just trying to flatter him insincerely. I couldn’t convince him that I thought he was smart.
Another guy that I was friends with was smart as well. When I told him that, he downplayed and denied it. At that time in middle school being smart wasn’t cool, and he was painfully outcast. So I understood that and let him be wrong about himself.
A woman that I was friends with complimented that I was smart. I told her that I thought she was smarter than me. She laughed and asked why. I said because you say and think amazing things and I am always happy to talk to you. She and I were close friends, but because she was LDS that was a barrier I wasn’t going to cross. Just to make it clear, I wasn’t rejecting her, her family would have rejected me unless I choose to convert to be LDS and I don’t think love means that you have to change for someone to fit in with their beliefs.
I have often told people they are smart or a genius, and most of the time people deny it. Friends that did know they were a genius were generally jerks, and I stopped being friends with them because of the way they treated others badly. I couldn’t stand their arrogance and cruelty. I always thought of myself as more kind than smart. Since I have glasses people have thought I was smart. I am smart enough to know that how you make people feel is more important than what you say.