Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 24, 2021

At least the trip should be pleasant even if the destination isn’t.

third!!!

Sing along with Basil: “I’m on the highway to Hell . . .”

Pig speaks the truth.

Imagine this conversation happening in a certain Michigan town

Some people would like to see the Grim Reaper’s wagon to break down on the way to hell.

I guess: do really hell (and heaven) really exist? I do not think so.

If the road wasn’t so smooth, the devil couldn’t persuade so many people to take it.

You have to work for the good stuff.

Pig’s logic is beyond reproach.

The road has to be paved, your bucket doesn’t have shocks on it.

The road to Hell is more important than your street, Pig. Much more traffic.

Like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic!

Once upon a time, in a conversation with a friend, I realized he and I had very different understandings of that saying.

I’ve wondered which meaning most people put to the adage. (And, of course, there may be readings different from either of hours..)

Do you find one of these to be more copacetic with your own interpretation?

1. If your intentions are good but you seek to achieve them by means that are bad, your essential nature nature is bad, not good, and you are worthy of punishment.

2. If your intentions are good but you do nothing to achieve them, you are by nature no better than if your intentions were bad.

Just curious.

And by the way, the expression is not from Shakespeare or the Bible… and in its current form it first appeared in the mid-19th century. Its ultimate origin is unknown.

It has to be smooth. Otherwise things will fall out of your handbasket.

There is a town named Hell in Michigan, near Ann Arbor

It’s no mere road to hell, Pig. It’s a highway.

So repair your street, Pig. One good intention at a time…

Pig actually makes a LOT more sense then a lot of people give him credit for….

The road in front of their house is paved with bad indentations.

PIG will never get the true meaning…of anything.

And you go to Hell before you die.

Ah, the philosophical imponderables. . .

What is the road to Purgatory paved with? Or more grammatically, with what is the road to Purgatory paved?

I suppose it is a fair question..

An application? “I thought that Allah was a real god, that Muhammad was his prophet, and that the Koran was a true revelation from God.”

Those hand baskets are fragile.

www.helltruth.com

We have roads in between potholes. Now the condition has slightly improved!

Love this! Good points Pig!

I at least want to have a few minutes of pleasure time before eternal torture.

Ok, a question about the devil. He is all about evil and trying to influence people to do evil. But if you do evil you are sent to him so he can torture you. Why would he punish you for doing exactly what he wanted?

My streets don’t have potholes. Oh no…

Hand baskets don’t have very good suspension, Pig.

In some places, I guess that potholes pass as good intentions.

First, let’s answer the serious questions. Like why does no one (including myself) in this strip hold a mug by the handle?

" I may be going to hell in a bucket. But at least I’m enjoying the ride" – G. Dead

The road to hell gets paved before your potholes are fixed because people who decide which roads are paved are headed that way.

As less and less believe in Hell than “who cares” is an appropriate question……

Science Fiction short from my yout, I think it was “The Hell-Bound Train”. Guy makes a deal with the devil. He is given a special watch in exchange for his soul. I won’t spoil it, but he makes good use of the watch…

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, what is the Pennsylvania Turnpike paved with?

You would try to draw the uniforms for the little league team sponsored by Brown’s Barber Shop, Stephan ‘Moe’ Pastis.

Wasn’t there a Pastis pun strip about the road to hell being paved with ten Shins? Ten chins? Shrug, something like that.

And there is the cause of the tension/ which nobody seems to mention:/ but we’re probably doomed/ since we’re all consumed/ in a frenzy of dissension.

Potholes in your street?! My new tires and I won’t be visiting for a while. But you can mail me some chocolate chip cookies.

The road to Hell is broad and had lillies and primroses along the path, the road to Heaven is narrow and rocky.

Oh….that’s so sweet.

2

“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey…”

If you’re going to hell in a bucket, really doesn’t matter what the road is.

Road? I took the on-ramp to the highway.

The saying is referring to the literal hell (not “hellish” backlash). It is based on the premise that it is not enough to simply mean to do well, one must take action. A good intention is meaningless unless it is followed by a good action. This would apply whether one believes that a person’s destiny is determined by good or bad works (rather than mere good intentions), or if their destiny is determined by repentance and faith (merely intended to do so is not enough.)

this is kinda true anyone else notice that one pothole in your street almost every street has one.

OK, well I have a question: If hydrogen is highly flammable, and oxygen feeds a fire, how come H2O puts out a fire? (answers NOT required!)

While everyone is busily paving the road to hell with good intentions, what about The Stairway to Heaven? Located in Ha`ikū, Kane`ohe, O`ahu, a metal stairway built by the US Coastguard in the 1940’s for WWII efforts has 3922 metal steps from the valley floor to one of the highest peaks in the Ko`olau Mountains, from which you can view the Windward side of the island in all its glory. (check out the links for photos!)Originally designated the Ha`ikū Stairs, hikers have referred to it as The Stairway to Heaven due to the beauty that unfolds as you climb to the top.The Friends of Haiku Stairs has for years been fighting to save the stairs, while the City and State has been trying to tear it down. Just recently, a minor Honolulu City official (Esther Kia`āina) surreptitiously slipped a million dollar line item into a city Bill 7 (2021), CD1 to remove the Stairway to Heaven and deny residents and visitors from this fabled attraction. I’m sure she did this with ‘good intentions.’ /s

SAVE THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofHaikuStairs/

https://www.haikustairs.org

Another instance of Pig missing the point. But who hasn’t complained about their town not fixing potholes in a timely fashion?

To me it means trying to do something good but ends up doing more harm that good.

“O see ye not yon narrow road,

So thick beset with thorns and briers?

That is the path of righteousness,

Tho after it but few enquires.

“And see ye not that braid braid road,

That lies across that lily leven?

That is the path of wickedness,

Tho some call it the road to heaven.

“And see not ye that bonny road,

That winds about the fernie brae?

That is the road to fair Elfland,

Where thou and I this night maun gae.

From “Thomas the Rhymer” Part one, by Sir Walter Scott

The road to Hell is very rarely smooth, and there are several roads in but not one road out.

No point in trying to explain this to severely literal-minded Pig. Just let it go and “agree” that he right….

“The road to hell is a spiral, a mere bent in the straight-and-narrow, but a persistent one.” Phillip Wylie

Pig should remember his talk with the devil:https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2004/03/02

Don’t you mean “Good and ten Chins”? XD