Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for June 11, 2023

But you’ll just be jerk with someone else’s personality if you tried being someone else.

Rat has a point; what if “yourself” is an @$$#013?

I’m surprised Rat didn’t say The problem with the world is that OTHER people are being themselves!

The real problem is that so many of us grew up trying to be someone else, or to live up to someone else’s expectations, that we never really learned who we truly are.

“To thine own self be true” ~ Shakespeare

“Gnothi seauton” ~ Ancient Greek aphorism: “Know thyself.”

Always be yourself. Everybody else is already taken.

Rat should think about not being himself so much…

Just can’t see Rat as Dale Carnegie!!!

This is why the Golden Rule doesn’t work.

We all run into our fair share of “characters” in life. Sometimes you’ve just got to filter them out and keep the ones most pleasant to work/be around. And don’t bother trying to change the “characters”, since a lot of them are impossible to change. Keep thinking about the good old Serenity Prayer.

The secret is “Don’t let the B@stard$ get you down”!

“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Rat nails it with a religious epiphany regarding original sin. People following their basic human nature leads to the lowest version of oneself. The goal is much higher. Since all the psychological mumbo jumbo took hold people haven’t exactly been flourishing. Exactly the opposite.

What if “being myself” means arguing with strangers on the Internet and eating too much cheese?

Unfortunately, there are people who love their bad attitude, enjoy inflicting it on others and spreading misery.

All I can add to Mr. Pastis’s brilliance is “and get off my lawn.”

Rat being himself means being an abrasive narcissistic pinhead who only cares about himself. Sometimes being yourself isn’t the way to make people like you. Sometimes, you need to improve and self reflect in order for people to like you. But we all know that ain’t gonna happen to Rat.

Ya know, I think Rat has a point!

Self Control.

It’s the truth. Our instincts come from our animal ancestors. Bullies, sluttts, and rapists probably add more to the gene pool. Much of Jesus’ teaching was about overcoming these instincts with love & reason.

If people take ‘be yourself’ as ‘be a jerk’, then maybe the problem is that these people see being a jerk as just who they are. And that’s really sad, when you think about it…

Self-worth and self-improvement aren’t mutually exclusive. The trick is not comparing yourself to others, but to an earlier you. I’ll never be as talented/attractive/knowledgeable/put together as that guy, but I can always improve on where I was yesterday.

To be or not to be youself. That is the question.

Rat’s right about this. I’ll add that the whole idea that we would get along better if we only knew each other better is a load of hooey. In order to get along, it is often necessary to know each other badly enough that we can each think better of the other.

Rat is correct.

Wow, this is actually so thought-provoking. If “being yourself” is just saying whatever’s on your mind, then, yes, that leads to being an @$$#013. But if “being yourself” involves getting over all the dysfunctional coping strategies always running through your head, leaving behind things like empathy, compassion, and the unique interests that make each person fascinating, then being yourself definitely becomes a good thing! Hard work though. (Just an opinion…)

Rat’s not wrong.

I try to be myself and not be a nuisance.

The real problem is people being who they are told to be. See most of the Prickly City comments for the last six years.

Hey, don’t tell me to “be myself” and then get all bent out of shape when you find out that this is who I really am!

Too many evil influencers and not enough brains to decipher the reality….

If you’re not yourself, then who the Hell are you?

Yup, and the 2024 POTUS ads begin soon.

Over the last gluttony of them, I went ad-free on YouTube for a year. Also, watching “free with ads movies”? Bunk!

“Being yourself” is an excuse. “Bettering yourself” is how to improve society.

The REAL problem is when people don’t let OTHER people be themselves!

Once again , Rat gets it right. Rather than be yourself, try becoming a BETTER version of yourself daily.

Stefan Pastis has a bigger point. This age of facile and vacuous mantras (follow your dreams, be yourself, be the best version of yourself [yes, we are a piece of software], etc.) cannot end soon enough.

The problem is that too many people choose the wrong selves to be.

Excellent point, Rat

Who else can you be if not yourself?

I’d be myself if only I knew who I was

too many people interpret, “be yourself” as “totally ignore the concerns of others”. …a part (huge) of the reason we’re in such a mess these days.

Wow! 76 comments on this. Was it Aristotle who said, “The unexamined life isn’t worth living”? If we examine our lives and find it lacking in empathy and kindness, we can change and still “be ourselves”.

Be yourself, also be aware that there are these things called “Consequences.”

All very selfish.

That’s what scares me. People are showing us who they really are

Exactly.

The @$$#013 should not be so disrespected. After all, it does inform you of the differences among solids, liquids, and gasses. It rarely makes a mistake in this regard, and when it does, your pantaloons pay the price.

Rat — ranting for the masses.

As in, when people act a certain way, believe it.

Hum… This maybe the truth.

“Be yourself” is about the worst advice you can give some people.

—Thomas L. Masson

I don’t need anyone else’s approval to believe in myself and my convictions. But we have half the people in this country that are insecure and unhappy because they can’t get everyone to proclaim that their lifestyle, beliefs, politics, religion (or anti-religion) is the only way.

Perhaps the cleverest retort by Goat this year!

And yet Rat is possibly correct again….

Maybe let other people be themselves??

Oh yeah!

struggling to breeve….snort….guffaw….ummmm….checking mote in own eye….snicker….yup, there it is….Rat, you rogue truthteller yuuuuuu