If I think there's an ad in there somewhere, I nag at it until it comes out. Use your life to animate your copy. If something moves you, chances are it will touch someone else, too. Ask someone to describe a spiral staircase, and they'll use their hands as well as words. Sometimes the best copy is no copy.
Confession is good for the soul and for copy, too.
I still think he was right. Don't be boring. Polish your anchors People don't simply form impressessions. They get anchored to them. Even more important today, people with little time are more apt to form first impressions from snap judgments and then base all their later decisions on them.