Language is amazing in the way it can be mixed and matched and rearranged. Words like "run" and "put" are among the most widely used words in the English language, however, the more meanings a word has, the less it means-the less weight it has.
A ship runs aground, a stocking may be full of runs and the fence runs around a field. The bus runs its route, while the train runs on the track, the car runs on gas, and the iPhone runs apps. You can take the money and run, but you'll run into trouble if you start running on empty. You might run a fever or have a running nose-and that might run in the family.
"Run" can be used to convey a general sense of motion-whether that be literal or figurative-and depending on what other words "run" is paired up with, people will get very different pictures in their heads. "iPhone", on the other hand, has a fairly specific meaning, and therefore has more weight in the sentence, "the iPhone runs apps", than the word "run". Therefore, in semantics (meaning of words), less is more.
That's not to say we should completely do away with the word "run" simply because it carries little weight. Languages are meant to handle ambiguity. We couldn't possibly have a word to describe every little instance of life, and several words are often necessary to explain one object or action.
And yet, we often find ourselves using little words in big ways, trying to define complex issues using small catch-phrases. I have no problems with philosophy in general, but I get worried when people try to sum up something as complicated as "life" in a simple sentence, like "Life is like sailing; you can use any wind to go any direction" (Robert Brault), "Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get," (from the best movie ever) or "He who has nothing to die for has nothing to live for" (Moroccan Proverb).
While some aspects of these statements might ring true and be useful in certain circumstances, I don't know that we should paint them on our walls as a reminder that "this is what life is all about". Analogies always break down somewhere, and if we choose to live our lives according to a few well-chosen words, we may still miss out on some big ideas. These philosophies should not be used as driving forces, but rather guiding lights of truth-if they do, in fact, contain truth. They can't take us to our final destination, but they can get us back in the right direction.
The word "life" is like the word "iPhone", in that people know exactly what you're talking about when you say it, but like the word "run", it may be difficult to picture, and needs several definitions. We can't rely on short, simple sayings to tell us what life is; we need a whole book...say the Bible!
In closing, here is some food for thought from Christopher Morley in his book, Thunder on the Left: "Life is a foreign language: all men mispronounce it."
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