"Any great truth can – and eventually will – be expressed as a cliche – a cliche is a sure and certain way to dilute an idea. For instance, my grandmother used to say, ‘The black cat is always the last one off the fence.’ I have no idea what she meant, but at one time, it was undoubtedly true." 

– Solomon Short (a fictional character of the science fiction author David Gerrold, who wrote the Tribbles episode of Star Trek, and The War Against the Chtorr series of books)