What are the most annoying platitudes?
Sometimes when people are trying to be helpful, all they can think to say is a platitude. Often this has the effect of making people feel worse, not better. Here’s a list of the most annoying platitudes people say.
It’s true that technically some of these are cliches, others are aphorisms, but they’re all used for similar reasons and can be equally irritating. It’s interesting to note how many of them conflict with each other.
- There’s no I in Team (what about healthy teams that appreciate constructive individuality?)
- Good things come to those who wait
- It was meant to be (then why did we bother trying to make it not be?)
- The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results (sometimes you have to do the same exact thing many times to get the result you want – it’s called practice)
- Time heals all wounds (how about losing a limb?)
- Such is life
- Forgive and forget
- Everything happens for a reason (including suffering and early death?)
- People are our most important asset
- It is what it is
- What the mind can conceive, it can achieve
- Winners never quit
- What doesn’t kill me will only make me stronger
- I don’t want a team of champions, I want a champion team. (Note that there is an I in “champion team”)
- Teamwork to make the Dream work
- “C’est la vie”
- Hard work always pays off
- God has a plan for you
- Great minds think alike
- Money can’t buy happiness
- Live each moment like it’s your last (not very pleasant)
- If at first you don’t succeed, try try again (maybe you should try elsewhere)
- Follow your passion
- Follow your bliss (what if mine is cocaine?)
- That’s just my personal opinion
- Let’s not reinvent the wheel
- It’s not rocket science
- It’s all good
- What goes up, goes down
- After the storm the sun will shine
- Don’t assume – it makes an ASS out of U and ME
- Don’t be sad because it’s over, be glad that it happened
- Love means never having to say you’re sorry (Then please don’t love me)
- We are where we are
- What goes around comes around
- What’s done is done
- Waste not want not
- It has to be somewhere (as if this helps you find something that’s lost)
- Nice guys finish last
- Go with the flow
- Only dead fish go with the flow
- No offense, but…
- Rome wasn’t built in a day
- Work smarter, not harder
- There’s no I in team
- Life doesn’t give you things you can’t handle (depends on what life gives you, doesn’t it?)
- You’re as young as you feel
- Age is just a number
- It’s just software
- We’re all in this together
- Everything always works out in the end
- Time heals all wounds
- We’ll all be laughing about this soon
- It’s doesn’t matter if you win or lose, only that you try
- Tomorrow is another day
- It could be worse
- You are what you eat
- It’s neither here nor there
- Think outside the box
- It will all look better in the morning
- Take the lemons and make lemonade
- The best things in life are free
- It wasn’t meant to be
- Better to have loved and lost…
- That’s for me to know and you to find out
- Better late than never
- With all due respect
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions (so I should have bad intentions then? is that how the road to heaven is paved?)
- Gossip is the devil’s radio
- Laugh and the world laughs with you
- People regret the things they didn’t do
- Beauty is only skin deep
- You can’t judge a book by it’s cover
- Work hard, play hard
- Only the good die young
- All’s fair in love and war
- All men are created equal
- There are plenty more fish in the sea
- The more things change, the more they stay the same
- It’s the darkest just before dawn (have you seen a dawn?)
- Fail harder
- Perception is reality (except when your perception is very bad)
- you can be anything that you want to be
- Patience is a virtue
- I’m sorry that’s not what you want to hear
- This will hurt me more than it hurts you (well lets switch places and find out)
- The customer is always right
- If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen (maybe we can make the kitchen better?)
- Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm
- Be careful what you wish for
- With great power comes great responsibility
- Just think about how much worse other people have it
- God never gives us more than we can bear (see death, misery, history of suffering)
What comes to mind? Leave a comment (240+ already have below). Thanks.
The one that really gets to me is, “God never gives us more than we can bear.”
If that were true, there would be no such thing as suicide.
I sometimes get the urge to hunt down and strangle the guy who came up with that one and see if he can bear it.
Maybe because some people don’t want to accept that you always have a choice. Chew on that awhile.
If guns were outlawed, only outlaws would have guns.
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Ummm…… Actually there are a couple of aphorisms up there masquerading as platitudes. Remember, it’s a wise man who knows the extent of his own ignorance. ( That’s an original, from me, BTW. Aphorism or platitude? )
Perception, also BTW, IS reality. Ever had to deal with geriatrics with psychotic complications? Their reality is not your reality, but has to be managed none the less.
Perhaps we need some aphorisms about platitudes.
‘Platitudes are the aphorisms of the intellectually inept’. How’s that?
“Lessons have been learned” – This one is trotted out by Chief Exec’s, politicians and the like, whenever there has been a big blunder for which they do not want to accept the responsibility and patronize their staff by inferring it was their fault and nothing to do with them personally.
“You reap what you sow” . . no you don’t, it’s all random, how many times have we actually seen bad people succeed, or good people who are kind and generous have terrible things happen to them?
“What goes around comes around.” Um, no it doesn’t, and if it does it’s strictly by chance…. see my previous comment.
Actually, although it’s probably a ‘platitude’ and some may find it annoying, I have learned that what IS often true is that no good deed goes unpunished…. over and over I have been helpful & kind to people who in the end abandoned me when I needed help.
“You made this bed now you have to sleep in it.”
That may be a bit off- Either way its banal and I wish to never hear it again.
Sounds like you ought to grow a spinal column and see people’s motives for what they are. The only time you can rely on people to help is when they’re going long on some kind of payoff. The only people who do things out of the “goodness of their hearts” are people with Downs Syndrome.
Boy, ain’t that the F’ing Truth!?!
How strong are people who do things out of the kindness of their hearts?
Read the tribute to Kathleen Beulah Potts on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ticjones/25-things-i-love-about-you
Some respond to the negative, but not the positive. Cliché, Platitude, whatever. Hearing the well worn Platitude gets annoying, but that has no bearing on it being right or wrong.
“What goes around comes around,Um, no it doesn’t”
” I have learned that what IS often true is that no good deed goes unpunished”
They are essentially the same statement, the former in a justice will prevail format. The latter in a justice will not prevail format.(in that regard the two statements are consistent)However,What goes around comes around.” Um, no it doesn’t, “and if it does it’s strictly by chance” This is where the commentators argument breaks down because his argument does not accredit any factor of chance affecting the statement “no good deed goes unpunished”(A cliché no less from Oscar Wilde ,not wise to use this when your arguing against platitudes ) Apparently the reason this negative view is correct and not a matter of chance is because the author has been let down many times himself whilst doing a good deed. Allan’s comments are fundamentally flawed because both statements could be true or false the cliché or platitude does not in itself provide proof either way.
. . . You write like a bright young lawyer . How about we cite my twisted version of this verse in Proverbs : ” For the battle is not always to the mighty , nor the race to Taylor swift , but time and Chance happeneth to all men ” ?
1. It’s a very twisted version indeed, since it actually occurs in Ecclesiastes. ;-)
2. I didn’t realize Taylor Swift’s existence was prophesied in Ecclesiastes. Crazy!
What we want are true platitudes like: All men are not created equal. – The road to heaven is not paved. – The best things in life are not free. – Reasons happen for everything. – Hard work buys experience. – Happiness cannot buy money.
It’s “fill in blank …eg. life , singing , spiritualism etc. a journey not a destination – ph blaaaah !
http://pinterest.com/jendziura/pinterest-skeptics-board-some-quotes-are-fabricate/
Commentary on common web platitudes
Live and learn.
Follow your bliss.
Perception is reality
Perception certainly is reality, even with a bad perception, you still have a reality….a bad reality. Zing!
I’m giving a thumbs-up gesture (that isn’t yet articulated by an emoticon.)
Jesus loves you
That’s NOT a platitude (annoying, or overused) – It’s TRUE
and yes, he does LOVE you!
That’s your belief. Note the word “belief”.
Personally I consider it a platitude as well, and an -extremely- aggravating one at that.
Oh do f*ck off.
Is that supposed to make me feel special? He seems to love everybody.
This is NOT a platitude. There is a God, Jesus Christ, and he does love you. He died for you, so that when we die on this earth, we will go to heaven with him. All you need to do, is believe this. Why not talk to a preacher or a christian. What do you have to lose?
Nathaniel: You may notice of the 200+ comments people left you are the only one arguing about what is or isn’t a platitude. Therion thinks it is one, you think it isn’t. I got it. Both of your opinions have been heard. Can you move on please? Thank you.
I would agree with you Nathaniel. The statement “Jesus loves you” is a fact. It is not a platitude. Jesus died upon the cross to save you and me. He took our sins past and future with him.
How is this a fact? Because it’s written in a book? So is goldilocks and the 3 bears but that doesn’t make it fact. I agree pointless and annoying platitude along with “god works in mysterious ways” and “he/she is in a better place now”
Well Laura, I don’t know what to tell you about your unbelief except that I do not argue scripture and I totally believe that everything in the word of God is given by inspiration of God. Actually I didn’t even bring up about a “book” but just to let you know “Jesus loves you” and that is a fact. If you choose not to believe that is your prerogative.
Laura Kemp
You my dear have a great sense of humor. The only thing that matters is someone’s character, and religion is hog-wash.
“They’ll get theirs” “what comes around, goes around” and all that karma stuff. All magical thinking, is just that. You guess it, I’m a non-believer as well.
Religion doesn’t do facts. It is a work of fiction that is particularly attractive to those lacking in critical thinking.
As for platitudes – “First things first” has got to be up there.
I am sorry for your shallow thinking. Maybe one day you will understand. But not until you get over yourself.
Actually James, you’re kind of right. People can just loll in the fact that there is Jesus and go on ranting about it but it sure doesn’t change anyone else’s perception, I mean, I wish Christians could be a little more logical and understanding about whom they’re talking with and show some more intelligence and respect. If you want to start preaching, do it like the apostle Paul. Aren’t we your brothers in Christ too? Are you imparting your knowledge to us out of love or out of… You know the rest. People don’t change overnight by some trivial Christian platitudes.
You “believe” that Jesus exists and does indeed love you, other people don’t. You can’t prove it, they can’t prove it, therefore its not a fact but a belief.
That’s right, James. Christianity isn’t a religion. …. if it’s viewed the right way….
Actually, if any proposed entity is defined as having mutually exclusive characteristics, it can be proven not to exist courtesy of the law of non-contradiction.
It is what enables us to prove there are no circular triangles, and no all just, all merciful deities.
Dan
You’re another logical thinker. I love that,
How about “I think of you often”- a friend who drifted away, but wanted to share an email picture of their new BMW. Another former friend “I miss you” and that friend shared a picture of their new boat. Yeah, you miss me like I miss acne. lol Go away.
Here’s one “Live and let live” far right or religious zealots are so full of “chit”.
He died being faithful to His Father’s Government! Nazarene means separate not a place like we assumed. Jesus loves you, is a platitude cause that love is in vein if we don’t love one another.
Loving one another so we can survive separating from worldly governments.
Being made to care for the widows orphans and needy in our society through taxation does not count. Makes us a hewned stone rather than an unhewned stone of which God required His Alter to be made of. The mortar board graduation cap confirms more bricks in the wall of the worldly government altar to you know who.
It’s God will…….
Sorry, meant to say
It’s God’s will
“Everything happens for a reason”
Dating site platitudes:
watching a good movie/dvd
love good wine
looking for that special someone
must have that cup of coffee
walking on the beach
Love ’em. I get so tired of dealing with dating site template personalities.
Buy Low ! Sell High !
a platitude that really annoys me is “bloom where you’re planted” Offhand, it is so cheery and optimistic but has aggressive undertones, demanding that you be happy where ever you are. That comment, made to me, has stuck with me for years, annoying me. Moving to a new place because something about where you happen to be isn’t working seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, rather than trying to fit a round peg in a square hole (another platitude!)
He who wants others to write their book deserve nothing
*He who wants others to write his book deserves nothing.
–although it might be more idiomatic to include errors in a platitude.
compare ‘If he or she desires that others write his or her story, then he or she is passive, andj passive people deserve nothing.’ with ‘them who depend on the earth can’t rely on it.’.
“Have a nice day.”
“It’s never as bad as you think.”
I am going through a really tough break-up right now and I have friend who offers up support like this.
What do I say to her?
Thanks, but it is that bad,
Tell her she’s right……………..it’s much worse!
“How bad do you think that I think it is?”
The lord works in mysterious ways.
This is a learning experience, said when bad things happen.
Life IS a learning experience. If not, then how do we grow? How do we learn? Our failures and accomplishments are all a part of who we are today. There is none perfect but the Lord. We are given a choice and there is always I feel room for improvement. I love learning. Life is truly a learning experience!
“There is none perfect but the Lord”.
You posted an annoying platitude in the coments section of an article about annoying platitudes!
You’re where you’re supposed to be, another annoying platitude when people don’t want to deal with you.
More here:
there are two sides to every story
just give it time, karma will balance things
just ignore him and he will stop
you just need to communicate clearly
just ignore him and he will go away
It takes two to argue
turn the other cheek
you’re just too sensitive
trust in god, he’s got a plan
practice makes perfect [added 8/15]
“Looks don’t count”
Really? They count for a tremendous amount… I don’t see too many ugly guys with good looking guys.
“Money can’t buy happiness”
Money buys EVERYTHING… Including love, peace of mine and in many cases, even health…
“Everyone has one unit of worth”
No they don’t… There will always be losers and there will always be winners…
Wow. You sure are a Nihilist.
Whoever said looks don’t count was probably blind. Humans’ mental input is through sight. You can pile that one on top of “don’t judge by appearances”…fine, then eat that rotten piece of fruit, since one isn’t supposed to judge on looks. Stupid, stupid platitude.
~
Money buys material things. It can’t buy a state of mind. You facilitate that for free. Common sense “buys” you health, for no system- governmental or otherwise can gamble on your health but you.
~
That last one makes me think you work in middle management.
I tend to use my nose to judge as much as my eyes so looks do count as much as odour. Don’t just go by somebody’s words. Most communication is non verbal and I agree with that.
That’s a false dichotomy. The world isn’t divided into winners and losers. Don’t runners up count. So everybody has an ounce of worth even people with Down’s Syndrome, ex prisoners and small children.
“It is what it is.” How useless.
I am what i am
These things are sent to test us
When someone says “Your time will come!” when someone they know mentions how they lost out on that job or role that they worked hard to prepare for.
Try never using a platitude , cliché, metaphor, simile, Idiom, or analogy? At an opportune moment they are very useful tools. However, if we set forth using the same old worn out cliché’s, platitudes and the like, then we can forgive the recipient their inevitable cringes. Like it or not these things are here to stay. An analogy like a platitude creates economy of thought and allows for a quick expression of views and dismisses the long protracted conversation. The recipient often hates the platitude because they had been expecting a greater consideration than you were prepared to give. Nevertheless, if you can be somewhat original in your platitude, good for you.
“……….dismisses the long protracted conversation.” Also dismisses any long protracted thought process. Why not just use the simple but succinct, …”Boring!” Or perhaps the equally honest, “You and your issue aren’t important enough to give any real thought to.”
Platitudes aside…never end a sentence with a preposition. “You and your issues aren’t important enough to give either any real thought.”
“Like it or not these things are here to stay.”
Platitude? Metaphor? Simile? or just Cliche
“Like it or not these things are here to stay” itself might as well be an annoying platitude, or at the very least a thought-terminating cliché given how many times it shows up in high-school level argumentative essays. It’s basically saying “If you like this thing, great! It’s not going anywhere! If you don’t like this thing, fuck you too bad!”
Life is too short for…
“Nothing new under the sun”
I hear what you are saying
And
I am sorry you feel the way you do
From someone who is not listening and has no idea what ypu are feeling
“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”
– Peter Saumur (from twitter)
This too shall pass
No Worries
ughhhhhhhhhhh
Im very worried I’ll have to hear that again and again. It is over used, mis used and the worrssssstttttt!!!!!!!!!
“Smile, it can’t be that bad” or “You look like you lost your best friend”. Two of the most insensitive things that I hear. Maybe I just did lose my best friend. And you don’t know how bad it really is. I was relating to a friend about a mess I was in, and he says “well, if you’re not happy now, you never will be.” what? are you an idiot? I can be happy again someday, especially once I fix the mess I’m in. it just shows no forethought at all when friends or strangers say such shallow things. if you can’t say something sincere AND helpful, just keep it shut, please.
The 1% ruins it for everyone else!!!!!! (And …. sooo????)
when the going gets tough, the tough get going
Pull yourself up by the bootstraps
(or just have a nervous breakdown-you are entitled to it)
Life is a work in progress. Actually, almost anything might be said to be “a work in progress.” Often saying something is a work in progress is a way of deflecting attention from the issue at hand. Someone says, “You cannot be trusted.” The response is, “I think trust is a work in progress.” Or, let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about trust in general — perfect time for a platitude.
In response to the introduction above: I don’t think that the “platitudes” themselves are annoying in what they necessarily say. Some of them are quite wise, but it depends on
1. Who says it to you.
2. And how you interpret it.
You’re absolutely correct, context is pretty much everything.
Never give up.
ah, the price humanity pays for metacognition!
Err, what is the price for metacognition these days??
what if they aren’t platitudes but said with belief in their meaning?
“It is what it is” isn’t meaningless and pointless. It actually stands for the idea of accepting your experiences instead of trying to fight against the current and being in disharmony. Once you accept certain realities i.e. somebody not loving you back, getting diagnosis of cancer, having a relative pass, then you can rise to the occasion and deal with it the best you can.
Which brings us to ” Everything happens for a reason”. There is no true or false of reality, but sometimes you can see the overall picture of things and derive meaning- even when something happens that brings about immense pain and agony. You can sometimes connect the dots looking backwards and see that what seemed like a nightmare and the worst thing that happened to you, led you to a new beginning that opened up meaningful experiences and positive change. If you try, you can create meaning, and that is something worth noting.
“Money doesnt buy happiness” is also not meaningless. Money can buy you many things that can help you feel more content but at the end of the day you are who you are with or witout money. If you are pessimistic, anxious and discontent, being Donald Trump will not change that. You may not reflect on it if you are very wealthy because you will take on the perspective of the world in making yourself believe you are happy. The power of self-deceit is incredible….
Self-deceit is incredible.
Perception and perspective are more easily conveyed in this fashion. It saves you time from using your brain, your not wrong because everyone says it, and all these sayings apply to every situation especially when you have no idea how they may be received.
I think these platitudes can certainly demoralize our vocabulary; Absolutely limit our own perception of thought, I can see its easier to repeat what someone else said rather then communicate your own thoughts on the issue but I will miss ‘what goes around comes around’ personally as a kid and even still I delude myself into that perspective a worldly justice ‘ karama’ that I genuinely believe exists.
Quora post (related): https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-best-most-annoying-platitudes-that-you-have-read-or-heard-or-even-made-up-yourself
Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.
I love my job, but it is still the old grind.
Means that you should never want to take a day off from your dream job as it’s shouldn’t feel like work. All jobs have their downsides and you also have your bad days. We all need time off work no matter how much we love our jobs for our health and well-being.
While I appreciate the sentiment that a phrase considered a “platitude” often does not make the person in pain FEEL any better and perhaps should not be spoken at particular moments, nonetheless, platitudes are most often platitudes because they are TRUE.
What’s that old platitude? “Cliches are cliches because they are true, which itself is cliche”.
Well, it is a platitude that platitudes are annoying. And it is a platitude that most platitude are true. But, again, that does not make them false. Most ARE true, and that IS why they became “platitudes”.
But the tone exemplified in the article here and many posts is that the platitudes are annoying because they are FALSE. Take, for example, this one from the article:
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results (sometimes you have to do the same exact thing many times to get the result you want – it’s called practice)”
Well, TECHNICALLY, this platitude is CORRECT. If you are truly the same exact thing repeatedly and expect different results, that IS insanity. The parenthetical noting how this platitude is “wrong” is, in fact, WRONG, as it misses the point of the platitude. “Practice” is NOT doing the same thing expecting DIFFERENT results. Rather, practice is doing the same thing expecting the SAME results.
This serves as an illustration of how having a political axe to grind most often results focusing on your agenda rather than on the truth of the matter.
Gee, is that a platitude?
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. You make some interesting points. I’d offer counterarguments but I realize now how much of what makes a platitude useful/annoying is the context. When it’s said, who it’s sad by, who it’s said to, and why they’re saying it. A notion you helped clarify.
In the hair splitting department: I still think the insanity platitude is wrong, at least some of the time. If I practice playing the exact same guitar chord ten times a day I am expecting that I will slowly, over time, get faster through repetition. Practice, in this example, is repeating the same exact thing with the expectation that over time I will see different results on the 1000th repetition than on the 10th.
Well, practice makes perfect, ooh sorry cliche or platitude, probably both. On a serious note Greg is right, we don’t repeat the exact same things because we know they will achieve the same results – Golf, Darts are good examples, Darts particularly because they do try to do the same thing over and over again – hit treble 20. It’s when they fail to hit their desired target that they adjust, proving that they aren’t insane!
I like that Greg… good addition to this thread.
Practice is what you do to get better or improve. You’re expecting, not the same exact result, but a better version of the result. Until you maximize the practice, to achieve the best or perfect result. Then you do the same thing over and over to maintain the result. Insane? Ask professional athletes, musicians, and inventors… among others.
Context. The reason so many are annoyed with these little sayings, which as you pointed out are mostly true, is because they’re used in the wrong context. They’re applied to people’s lives by ignorant people who heard but didn’t understand. Then they repeat it, or offer it up as advice or comfort (in some situations), and it’s mis-applied and doesn’t help anybody… because it’s in the wrong context. Wrong place, wrong time. Read through the list above and imagine applying them at a funeral.
True? Yes. True for any situation? No.
Scott, that diagram of “Why People Fail” is great.
That phrase about doing the same thing and expecting different results seems to assume your actions are the only factor playing into the outcome. Gamblers playing roulette expect different results when they play, or otherwise they’d stop after losing once-
Maybe expecting a light bulb to not shatter after being hit by a hammer would be insane, as most would expect the same results each time in that situation.
Back in the day — this one irks me royally.
Two more came to mind while watching Rachel Ray:
“Got your back” — as in “I got your back”
“Speak to” — as in will you speak to [a subject]
“Time wounds all heels.” John Lennon.
I hate it when people use platitudes on me as much as the next person. Especially when I feel really down. So I don’t use them on other people. But I use them on myself quite often when I’m in a bad place but trying to get out of it. If I really feel it, and it succinctly describes how I feel, then I use it.
“That which does not kill you only makes you stronger,” is one i use quite frequently to describe myself when someone comments on the horrific things that have happened to me in the past. And if someone asks why I keep cooking a meal that wasn’t that great the last time I cooked it (not the definition of insanity because I change an ingredient or two every time :P), then I’ll say “If at first you don’t succeed…” It will often make one of my long stories short, which most people really want.
Bottom line: if the platitude fits, wear it! (I really hate that one!)
What about platitudes couched as key learning outcomes in the typical liberal arts curriculum justification? for example, ‘education focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary or enduring’? or, ‘civic knowledge and engagement at the local and global level’? or a wheel of outcomes-curriculum-pedagogy-assessment-outcomes-etc.
As someone who spent (too) many years lecturing in HE in the UK I went through all the fads and fashions, at one point, (I think it is still the case) we had to list our learning outcomes for the module we were teaching. Mine was: The student will know a great deal more about this subject than before they took this module, a) provided they attend regularly, b) contribute in seminars regularly and c) read at least some of the essential reading list……..otherwise they won’t achieve their learning outcomes and will fail the module! Needless to say I was asked to re-write it!
The heart wants what it wants.
“The heart wants what it wants.”
Was it Woody Allen or Ted Bundy that said that?
Practice makes perfect!
Nonsense. Practice makes better!!
^^^ and bad practice only reinforces bad habits!
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ~George Eliot
“Life isn’t fair.” and “It’s a cold, cruel world.” True, but sometimes I think people use these facts as excuses to be lazy and complacent and not do what they can to make the world a better place.
I’m agreed that there are many annoying platitudes that I avoid but many of those examples I use from time to time when the circumstance seems appropriate and I feel it’s true.
Hindsight is 20/20
‘Back in the saddle’ is one of my least favourites
Pick yourself up by your bootstraps.
“They are in a better place.”
My child died and people said this to me. Better than being with me?
“Time heals all wounds (how about losing a limb)?”
Well, the wound would eventually heal. The platitude doesn’t say anything about getting back what you lost.
On a side note, the “customer is always right” one is my least favorite on the list D: D: D: jbaeja;ifaj;lkeja; whoever came up with that one clearly has never worked retail XD
“Time heals all wounds,” says the axiom; but a punster may retort, “Time wounds all heels.”
“Computers never make mistakes.” (So…. if a computer glitch changes the expected output, how is that different from a person who makes a mistake due to a short-term brain malfunction?)
“History Repeats Itself” (An illogical variation of “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.”)
“It says so in the bible” (especially annoying when the quote preceding this comes from Shakespeare or some other philosophical work other than the bible)
Art imitates life. And reverse.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting different results…..This is not a platitude in my opinon. The explanation cited does not fit the definition…..Practice means you do the same thing over to achieve the same results…..not EXPECTING different results.
You don’t practise expecting to get worse or stay just as good as you are today. Getting better at something can often be unexpected. Not only in the rate of improvement, but the moment of improvement.
Has anything ever “clicked”? By that I mean suddenly became clear or felt right? We can hope to get better, but no matter how hard I try, I may never be able to be a chess master.
I can practise and expect a different result tomorrow, that doesn’t mean it will or won’t happen, but I can expect a different result and be disappointed.
“I thought I’d be better at this by now, I’ve been practising for years!” can be said by someone learning to play an instrument for instance. That sentence implies expecting a different result from the same actions.
Which means you do, in fact, practise expecting different results, which in turn means that the definition of insanity is not “doing the same thing over and over expecting different results”.
Thus, the statement is a platitude.
No, I agree with Donna. That original statement is really about being unwilling to change practices, not about ‘practice’. It’s also nothing like a literal statement; I think it better described as “…insanity is attempting to achieve a different outcome without altering your method”.
I think it works better in a social context. The outcome of practice through repetition is improvement in quality, competence and ability, though the result is still the same. Thus, not a platitude.
What bugs me about this saying is that the true definition of insanity has nothing to do doing the same thing over and over. It’s annoying and misleading. Insanity is actually on a far different spectrum than merely doing the same thing over.
To me, and every other divorcee, “At least you have the kids.” NOOOO. I still have to deal with my kids’ father. I woulda had kids with someone else, not THESE kids but still. No to “At least you have the kids.”
A very nice list, which contains some good old saws I never heard before. If you’re into such linguistic twists–and turns of phrase–check out “Would You Mind Repeating That?”–a new compendium of more than 15,000 well-known and oft-used expressions, most of which will be familiar to you but probably some that will be new in your lexicon and ready to go “trippingly on the tongue”: amzn.to/1DAtTvo
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll check it out.
Well, after all is said and done, and the dots connected, the bottom line is that platitudes and related-suck.
My husband just died, and a good friend said, “When god shuts a door, he opens a window.” What does that even mean?
Linda, I don’t know what that’s supposed to be saying but I don’t think that would have provided much comfort in your situation! I hope you are healing.
I don’t mean to disrespect anyone but the cliche annoys the heck out of me. I my mind though when God shuts a door God shuts it because we have offended God. And God opens that window to give us the free will to jump out of it. The ultimate sin of self-murder is nothing compared to the sin which landed us in this hell on earth.
When my mother died in 2006 (10 years ago this May 21st.) I was alone in the world with mental illness, and all I have done is screw up. I get cliches all the time. like “your time hasn’t come yet” “the sun will come out tomorrow” and the real kicker “you have to love yourself before anyone can be expected to love you.”
Thing is God allowed the mental illness to come into my life, God can only take it away. But the fact that I am 56 and falling apart and everyone tells me I am still “young” bugs me too.
I feel for anyone who has lost a loved one, a loved mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife or significant other. But I am just saying is that life is that vale of tears one prayer in the Catholic lexicon gets right. Buddha tells us Life is suffering if we are not on the path to enlightenment. Who among is on that path? Only it seems the great souls like Merton and Gandhi. Life is suffering because we let it cause us suffering but no one is telling any of us what the secret of letting go is.
They just say let go and let God as if that is possible or this too shall pass. What worse is that in the midst of angst and loss someone tells us that we’ll be okay.
Fact is it never stops hurting. And if God really does love us as Jesus said, why is there so much suffering in the world? And why do innocent and good people die before their time?
I give up.
Please don’t give up! Just try to seek out and surround yourself with compassion
How you do anything is how you do everything.
I shudder to think what life would be like if that were true!
Core values stemming from one’s inner self will impress all gestures or action. O boy, is that a platitude?
Reminds me of art speak blather as example ~ ” Artistic expression is INFORMED by experience.” It’s that word ~ informed that gives me the gears..
Read between the lines. (…and in my opinion you get nothing.)
All men ARE created equal. This is one of the greatest ideas ever penned by human beings. As a toss away line, I suppose it could be considered a platitude. But people should embrace it and discuss it forever more.
I hate hearing or saying “hang on there”. It just annoys me, and really, often there is no other option so you just do it. (hang in there)
One might as well say : Hang UP there, huh ?
“I’ll pray for you”…and… “God bless you.”
At funerals I hate hearing, “They’re in a better place” and “God needed another angel” or “God has a plan” and don’t forget “They’re still with us.”
…Seriously? Prove it!
MWAHAHAHAHAHA. I’m in stitches ! You’re something else Cage. I haven’t laughed so long and so hard in years.
” They’re still with us ”
” Seriously, PROVE IT ”
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA eternally !
The concept of afterlife is the driving attraction of organized religion, to make people feel better about the eventual certainty of death.
“He’s in a better place”, while generally not a truth, is probably preferable than “Sucks to be him.” You’d likely hate hearing that more, so that’s the “lesser of two evils” thing.
Again, storytelling as a way to ‘explain’ away loss and finality of death.. A denial of truth by imagining fairyland where sunbeams lay golden upon white fluffy clouds. But, dogs go to heaven? ( or p’raps hell for ‘bad’ dogs )
“Love it or leave”. (An Australian favourite)
It could be worse
At least you’re not dead
God doesn’t give you more than you can handle
Yes Kim you are correct in saying that “God doesn’t give you more than you can handles” is a platitude. That is not biblical. I Corinthians 10:13 states “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able: but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” This has everything to do with temptation and not with what you can handle.
Thank you! SOMEBODY gets it!