Cliche's

Someone mentioned something before, and it was exactly about what I had been giving some thought to.  It was a result of their recent experience, as was mine.  Someone mentioned to me that what I said was cliché.  The implication was that it was a matter I had not thought through necessarily but was parroting off an answer.
I thought that was really interesting as I know I try never to give a glib answer and I try to make what I say a result of having thought a matter through.  One way around it I have thought of since, is to put something differently but to say the same thing.
I am probably up against it.  Something was said to me over 40 years ago and it impacts me to this day.  Perhaps it is a cliché.  If not, I would not mind it being one. “it is not how close to danger you can go, but how far you can keep from it that counts.”  That to me is a great avoidance of trouble mechanism.
To me there is a reason something becomes a cliché.  It sums up (often best) a common experience.  Unfortunately, often a cliché is used without thought and not as a result of experience but because it is a well-known way of saying something.  It may be relevant, but it is not necessarily relevant to the person using it.  It has never been their experience, but something heard only.
Even the word cliché it seems is up against it.  When I looked at its definitions the first I read was “a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought,” and the next one I read said, “anything that has become trite, commonplace through overuse.”
There is nothing I can do about overuse, but lacking original thought is something that causes me to reconsider their use even when applicable.  I can only go by my experience.  Sometimes a cliché sums up a matter I have given thought to.
To me it becomes a classic matter of not what is said, but what is heard.  For that very reason I think cliches are a thing I will try to avoid in the future.  Though I will continue to use them in some instances to sum up a common concept.
When I am talking, it seems they are something that should be avoided.  The last thing I want to do is miss lead.  I know I cannot affect what people hear, but I can change what I say.  I have no desire to change the meaning of what I say, but I know I can change how I put something.  I prefer to leave no room for misinterpretation.
Something I went through made a lasting impression on me.  I once wrote a policy that was acceptable, but I sent it to others for their input and comment.  What I received back made an acceptable document better.
It is true though sometimes what I say may be evidence of my initial thoughts.  It could be I am considering something I have not considered before.  It may betray a lack of consideration at that point.  Sometimes my thinking about a matter is in the embryotic stage.  I know I may not have got there, but I know I am heading there.