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Like in the examples:

「自分が不幸でも他の人が幸せならいいなんて綺麗事だよ」

「人は外見より中身だ、なんて綺麗事だよ」

In the dictionary I found `lip service`, but it doesn't "feel" very natural to
me, although maybe that's just my impression.

What are some other words/expressions which I use in this situation?
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words
What's a good translation of "きれいごと"?
> <http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q108124570>
>
>   * That's so fake! (ウソっぽいという意味）
>
>   * That's [a] very superficial statement. (現実的でないこと）
>
>   * nice words や fine words で良いのではないでしょうか。
>
>

<http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%e3%81%8d%e3%82%8c%e3%81%84%e4%ba%8b> --> 6件
(other than [nice words] and [fine words ], not too helpful)

The 1st word that came to my mind was platitude(s).

From Obama's speech (?) -- Probably no political platitude is more invoked or
more ignored than this: let's do it for the kids.

> <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/platitude> --- Beauty, I suppose, opens the
> heart, extends the consciousness. It is a platitude, of course.
>
> <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bromide> --- We hoped the speech would
> include reassurances, but instead it was merely one bromide after another.

"feel-good bromides create the illusion of problem solving"

truism, cliche,

Sherlock Holmes may have called it a "commonplace".
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**Hollow/empty words** (n.) or **ring hollow** (v.), **sound empty/hollow**
fits the meaning of 綺麗事, as it explicitly dismisses the subject-matter as
unrealistic and reflects the hypocrisy connotation of 綺麗事. However, it fails
to reflect the connotation of how the subject-matter sounds great at first
glance.

In this case, **idealistic** (adj.) can be used instead, to reflect both the
superficial positive quality and the unreality of the subject-matter.

> 「自分が不幸でも他の人が幸せならいいなんて綺麗事だよ」
>
> It's idealistic to put the happiness of other people before your own.
>
> Putting the happiness of other people before your own - how idealistic that
> is.

> 「人は外見より中身だ、なんて綺麗事だよ」
>
> It's idealistic to expect people to value personality over looks
>
> Personality over looks - how idealistic that is.
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