Put the meaning into your own words.

The sententious speech offered lofty maxims instead of practical help.

Tessa added irreverence when a character used the committee's ceremonial stamp as a paperweight, treating a solemn symbol casually. Another character adopted a moralistic tone, judging every misplaced comma as evidence of a defective character. His sententious refrain, 'Order in ink is order in the soul,' compressed that moralizing into a polished little maxim.