There are a breed of sayings I like to place under the heading of: "Pithy." They don't mean a whole lot, though they could I suppose, but mainly they are said to make the speaker sound wise. Stuff like that drives me crazy, especially in books and movies. The words typically seem good enough, but once you take a moment to consider they are only swollen cotton candy.
"Get out there and win!" is a personal favorite from sports stories. Usually pronounced by a couch, with great seriousness, and I have to wonder why they say this? As though the team were to aim to lose? Naturally, someone wins and someone loses, but why point out the obvious? Much better would be to say, "I believe in you. Now get out there and prove it!" It's the empty platitudes I dislike, not the sentiments behind them.
Writers are always cautioned to avoid clichés, and this is probably the reason. Using common sayings like these doesn't really do much, other than be instantly recognizable hogwash. It takes effort to come up with something new, but the effort is worthwhile. Having a wise man saying fluff doesn't make them wise, but having them give actually intelligent insight is wonderful. For example, Yoda's wonderful phrase in response to Luke Skywalker saying it was impossible said, "That is why you fail." Impressive insight, that because you don't believe it's even possible prevents your attempting it anyway. Providing actual wisdom is well worth the effort, and the audience, I believe, appreciates it.
- M
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