He distributed a list of cliches and instructed the students to treat them as hypotheses. Students were required to select two of the cliches, find empirical evidence to support or reject each and submit abstracts of the studies, and to defend their conclusions in a class presentation. Like father like son. Let sleeping dogs lie. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Good breeding is the blossom of good sense.
Brevity is the soul of wit. Virtue is her own reward. Better late than never. One bad apple spoils the barrel. Blood is thicker than water.