Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for January 18, 2024

…and you still have to pay back the loans.

Marcus Aurelius had it right.

And don’t forget Rat’s favorite, sociopathy.

Choose one philosophy to live your life by? That’s like choosing one vitamin to eat for the rest of your life.

Well, I didn’t waste any time In grad school, but I take your point.

Rat has embraced solipsism. He just doesn’t know it.

After the one kind thing, may I be as obnoxious as I wish the rest of the day?

Embrace humanity. Call out those who do not.

Do a good turn daily. —Lord Baden Powell

I don’t feel that way. I’m absolutely sure.

Great philosophy, Pig!

Life is simple. Not waste it in philosophisticated things.

You can do all those things and still be like pig…

But does that mean that after doing that one kind thing, I can do a dozen mean things, and it’s all cool?

“20 years of school and they put you on the day shift.”

On a two year program

613 rules in the Bible… melt down to “LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR”…

Depends on your major I guess…

And some “Karen” will tell you to “mind your own business”, Pig.

Nope. I never had the means to afford universities, so I had to settle for community college and even then, I was up to my hips in debt.

I bet Goat is probably an adjunct prof at his local community college, probably in Philosophy or Sociology. The coin he makes from this and substitute teaching at the local school district covers his rent and student loan payments but leaves little left which explains why he spends a lot of time with Rat and Pig…….

Hedonism works for me.

The Golden Rule still works too.

Pig’s philosophy is a great one, just so long as we know what “kind” means.

Absolutely I think I wasted time in grad school.

Live fast, die young; leave a beautiful corpse…

Mine are the Golden Rule, live and let live and mind your own business

I used to study philosophy, and then I found out about the philosopher who ended up not saying anything.

I avoid ‘isms’ at all cost. I’m into avoidism.

Egoism works for me.

If you spent four years in grad school studying philosophy, then yeah, you wasted them. At least in terms of getting employed.

not me. never went to college and now i’m a big time cook at Wendy’s. booya

I personally subscribe to virtue ethics.

Pig is right.

If you got a Doctorate in Philosophy, you wasted a lot more than time.

I pick one each day Monday through Friday. Then practice slobbism on the weekends…

Hardly a waste. They hired me as an instructor, so I could pay for it. Worked a big 12 hours a week, with no committee assignments, since I wasn’t senior staff. And after graduation, I ended up in the police where they paid me a nice chunk each month for the advanced degree, and because it was the 80’s and my degree was computer science, I had things pretty much my own way, because no one else had my skill set.

Rat’s Grad school was actually Gradual school.

One semester of philosophy was enough. I think it was a humanities requirement

“If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.”

AMEN! Do 2 Kind Things one day a week on top of that!

Should we be alarmed at how early in the list hedonism made an appearance? And isn’t calling that a philosophical school of thought a bit grandiose?

Random acts of kindness…try to do one every day, maybe it will become contagious…

There is a company that makes clever little items that you are likely to see in museum gift shops. Einstein finger puppets, Mister Rogers coffee cups, that sort of thing. The name of the company is The Unemployed Philosophers Guild. When I first noticed this I thought, “Is there any other kind?”

Lennon sang: ♪♫ "Ev’rybody’s talking ’bout

Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism

This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m

All we are saying is give peace a chance" ♫♪

Not for The College of Finance weasels.

Sometimes it does happen…certain degrees will get you no where.

The more times you run over a cat, the flatter it gets.

i took philosophy my senior year in college and towards the end of semester the professor was handing back another term paper i got an “A” on and stopped by me and said, “Mr. O’Connell, if you don’t mind i have, and indeed most of your classmates have a question for you: is there anyone, anyone at all, that you do agree with?” i smiled and with no hesitation answered, “Yes sir. Jesus.”

Rat: No. I’m a high school drop-out.

The average life span of a Rat is 5 years. Who knew I would be in this purgatory for 23 years and 19 days?

Simple is usually better. Treat others the way you would want to be treated seems to sum it up succinctly…….

Rat went to Grad school?

“Do a good deed every day.” The Boy Scout mantra.

I don’t think that I ever saw a goat in grad school. Maybe at the Naval Academy you might find one.

Pig nailed it.

But then what do you do with the rest of your day?

Try Humanism.

George Baileyism

Pretty sure Pig’s philosophy wouldn’t work fore the hedonists…

I am fairly sure Rat never felt that way.

Only four? Slacker.

Pig for Ruler of The Universe!

Well said Pig.

Two if possible.

Interesting that Pig is more sensible than brainy Goat.

So, Goat went to grad school? And studied the history of philosophy? And still hangs around with Rat?

What is wrong with this picture?

Only one?!? Bah and feh say I! I just snow blowed two houses past mine on both sides, but I have the sweetest, most wonderful neighbors.:) And it looks like I’ll be doing it again later gotdangit!

I love Pig so much! ❤️

Hedonistic Nihilism for me