"Follow your dreams" is the stupidest advice ever.

[EricHiggin]

DonFerrari said:

DélioPT said:

"Based on what they were (…)" 
You can't expect people who tell others to follow their dreams, to know who they are talking to.
It's easier to give a more personnal advice when you know the person in front of you.

I would say both situations are acceptable, given the context.

As i said before, it's to those who listen to see if what they are dreaming about is something that is actually at their reach or not.

Like "stay at school" or "don't do drugs"?
People know what they are hearing and if they are hollow words, it's up to those who use those expressions. Even if they are used as clichés, the ones who are hearing will probably give it the correct meaning and read it as real motivation.

I can't think of a down side or exaggeration on expectation of results on stay at school and don't do drugs. Still I don't give the advice like that, I prefer to hear the problem and try to work out a solution with the person.

Stay in school, but don't pay attention to the millionaires or billionaires who dropped out, are super successful and are praised up and down. Don't do drugs, yet nations like Canada and slowly America are making at least one of them legal for everyone of age.

Just a short phrase can be extremely misleading if it isn't given enough context. It allows anyone to take what was said in just about any way they deem logical at that point in time, based on their present knowledge.

If you don't know who exactly your talking to when giving advice, then be as insightful as possible based on the present situation, or don't bother. When you know your being given an award for your work, then thank the people you know who helped you get to where you are and leave it there, unless you want to explain how they helped you and why. It's like the guy getting interviewed on the news who witnessed the crime. 'The guy was black' he says. Well, case closed I guess... great work Sherlock... LOL.