Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 17, 2021

Goat is right, $10M doesn’t go that far anymore.

I knew my greed made me smarter than Budha. I was already enlightened.

10,000,000$ Crowfunding could work too.

As usual, Rat has hold of truth, but also as usual, he’s got the wrong end of it.

By that logic, if I am being tortured and I stop desiring not to be tortured, then I will no longer suffer. OK. I’ll go with the $10 million instead.

Buddhist says to a hot dog vendor, “Make me one with everything.”

Gives him a twenty. “Don’t I get change?”

“Change must come from within, my son.”

I’ll take margarine over Buddha.

Rat, you went from desire to something totally improbable, the truth is that you are a stupid dreamer.

Politicians have a desire to create a better world for their supporters.

As a result of their efforts, they banish all of us to suffering from their follies and partisan mistakes.

I don’t believe politicians desire to create a better world for anybody but themselves.

No, but he’s a hqiz of a lot smarter than you, Rat.

One of the few benefits about growing old is you hear a lot of old sayings. One of the best: "Money is like seawater, the more you drink, the thirstier you get.

Similar “logic” was used by the Indian Godman, Bhagwan Rajneesh, in his er… seminal work: “From Sex to Superconsciousness”

Most religions are based on the fallacy of heaven and hell! Take that away and most people would pray at home and stop paying to get to heaven or stay out of hell. The current Pope admitted there’s NO hell. They are both what you make of your life right here on this planet.

“Desire is the root of suffering”

Try telling the poor and starving people in the world that all they have to do to relieve their suffering is to stop desiring food.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Codified religion is a fuqued-up artificial construct. And any religion that seeks to deny or suppress our god-given nature is more fuqued up than most.

To paraphrase the graphic novel, “V for Vendetta,” People should not be controlled by, and fear, their religions; religions should be controlled by their people.

Anyone can have a million dollars. It’s just another stack of money these days.

Rat COULD try the trump method of getting $10 Million…start with a Billion $…

By the way… look VERY CLOSELY at the different panels, and you will see that they are NOT Cut-and-Paste. There are very subtle differences between each panel. I think Pastis is playing another joke on his readers…

If you meet the Rat on the road, kill him.

So by that definition, would desiring to continue living or desiring to provide for your family bad?

Writing a check for $10M is no big deal. Cashing it on the other hand…

“No, I’m smarter than you. Which isn’t hard.”

I may not be smarter than Buddha, but I do know this:If I give you an inch, Rat, you’ll take 2,000 miles.

Not to pick the fly poop out of the pepper or anything, but that should be “the Buddha”.

It’s not a name, it’s a title used for the philosopher Siddhārtha Gautama; it means, roughly “enlightened one”.

Artwork technique: Copy panel 1. Then paste, paste, paste. Same as last Monday and Tuesday!

You need water to live. You desire Champagne.

You need shelter from the elements. You desire a palace.

Renunciation of desire is simple, but not easy. Think of each of your desires (or “attachments”) as a stone in a sack you carry on your back: You may never empty the sack entirely, but each stone you remove and leave by the side of the road makes your journey that much easier. As has been said in one way or another by many sages East and West, ancient and modern, “He is happiest who is content with least.” Even Jesus preached not to save money for a rainy day, but to trust God that tomorrow will provide for itself (Matthew 6:25-34, paraphrased).

Theoretically, it is possible to become indifferent to hunger, thirst, physical pain (which is, in Buddhism, not the same as “suffering”; “pain” is imposed from the outside, while “suffering” is your mind’s response to it) or even death, but if you can rid yourself of these desires (i.e. the desire to avoid them) you are likely approaching Enlightenment, and Enlightenment has rewards of its own. Theoretically. (It has been said that to attain Enlightenment you must finally cast aside the desire for Enlightenment, which I admit seems tricky.)

At 77.88, what I desire is no longer available. Nope. No rise and shine when watching porn.

There he goes again, totally missing the entire point of the exercise…. Like so many these days… So many conservatives anyway…

Pretty sure that once he got a check for $10 million, he’d desire a check for $20 million.

No, you need billions. That way you could be like Bill Gates, given all the worship given a doctor without the hassle of getting any medical certification A-tall. When you’re rich, your right!

Sigmund Freud was once asked if he preferred treating rich people or poor people.

Oh, definitely rich people. They know that money won’t solve their problems.

I am not Buddhist and have not read Buddhist texts, but I would imagine one’s desires lead not only to one’s own suffering but to the suffering of others. Hence inequality, poverty, and violence.

please feel free to send to the Sunday mission box, number 10……..

How many rich or mega rich stop and say “OK, I have plenty now, no need for any more.”? I remember a while back someone writing that he was rich beyond compare because he had something that no rich person ever had: “enough”. I think THAT is wisdom!

No Rat, He’s thinking more like Buddha than you.

Is this the best strip out there? Rat is the dude…

Rat is right in the third panel about would end his desire for money; but that isn’t Goat’s point.

Rat’s exegesis is problematic, but it is a nice try! The Buddha still wins, though….

Stick to beer!

Just talk to Uncle Joe and tell him it is stimulus money. He’ll believe anything.

rat+goat=rage on both ends.