62:, e.g., "it is what it is", making them appear vacuously true. But the phrase is used to mean "there is no way of changing it", which is no longer a tautology: "Structuring the sentiment as a tautology allows it to appear inescapable." At the same time, some phrases that have become platitudes may provide useful moral guidance, such as
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A platitude is even worse than a cliché. It’s a sanctimonious cliché, a statement that is not only old and overused but often moralistic and imperious. ... latitudes have an aphoristic quality, they seem like timeless moral lessons. They therefore shape our view of the world, and can lull us into
167:, they are taken as a starting point. Roger Scruton observes that platitudes can for some philosophers play a defining role in addressing questions, where "platitudes - innocuous though they may seem to the untheoretical eye - provide the ultimate test of any philosophical theory".
86:'-ness', thus 'flatness'. The figurative sense is first attested in French in 1694 in the meaning 'the quality of banality' and in 1740 in the meaning 'a commonplace remark'. It is first attested in English in 1762.
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is a statement that is seen as trite, meaningless, or prosaic, aimed at quelling social, emotional, or cognitive unease. The statement may be true, but its meaning has been lost due to its excessive use as a
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Platitudes have been criticized as giving a false impression of wisdom, making it easy to accept falsehoods:
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In philosophy, platitudes are beliefs or assertions about a topic which are generally accepted as
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A Plethora of
Platitudes: A collection of cliches and an assortment of adages
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Daniel Nolan, "Platitudes and metaphysics", in David
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It doesn't matter who scores, as long as the team wins.
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accepting things that are actually false and foolish.
64:"do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
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138:It really do be like that sometimes.
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58:Platitudes often take the form of
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374:Beauty: A Very Short Introduction
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141:Take the good with the bad.
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313:Oxford English Dictionary
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18:Platitudes
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222:Snowclone
216:Demagogue
82:'flat' +
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