Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for September 12, 1993
September 11, 1993
September 13, 1993
Transcript:
Calvin: Today at school, I tried to decide whether to cheat on my test or not. I wondered, is it better to do the right thing and fail ...or is it better to do the wrong thing and succeed? One the one hand, undeserved success gives no satisfaction. ...But on the other hand, well-deserved failure gives no satisfaction either. Of course, most everybody cheats some time or other. People always bend the rules if they think they can get away with it. ...Then again, that doesn't justify my cheating. Then I thought, look, cheating on one little test isn't such a big deal. It doesn't hurt anyone. ...But then I wondered if I was just rationalizing my unwillingness to accept the consequences of not studying. Still, in the real world, people care about success, not principles. ...Then again, maybe that's why the world is in such a mess. What a dilemma! Hobbes: So what did you decide? Calvin: Nothing. I ran out of time and I had to turn in a blank paper. Hobbes: Anymore, simply acknowledging the issue is a moral victory. Calvin: Well it just seemed wrong to cheat on an ethics test.
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cocoayoc over 13 years ago
i knew he’d say something like that eventually
ClaraBadWolf over 9 years ago
An ethics test? In first grade?
Maybe it was in Sunday School?
chassimmons Premium Member over 8 years ago
It is worth pointing out that many of the most despicable actions that men have committed were done in the name of some principle.
Iggy Turtle over 8 years ago
Calvin sums it up beautifully….
yow4zip Premium Member about 6 years ago
He passed the ethics test.
noissimbus about 3 years ago
That speech in itself deserves an A in ethics studies. If only his teachers were around!
Patrick_Star almost 2 years ago
As I got older than 7 years old, I began to understand more and more of the Calvin and Hobbes strips, but this one was always too dense for me. Fortunately, now that I understand it, I value it’s message in every regard.