Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for February 04, 2018

Have a collection of Mel Brooks movies and 30 Rock always available.

Gee, now I wish I would have left the comics for after I got up this morning.

One of his best ever!

OK, who wrote this, and what have you done with the real Stephan Pastis?

I’m stumped. So what does this mean!?

Could it be his farewell to Bud Grace?

All true; all profound. Well done Mr. Pastis.

“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? …”

Someone needs to check on Pastis. :O

Wow! Just WOW!

If that tree is so smart, how did it end up as a fence?

Well that’s it. Pig wins the Sunday comics this week.

I Kant believe that Pig finally figured it out.

That’ll do, Pig.

Very poetic, Pig. This is why you’re my favorite

Bacon is, like, the very best thing in the world!

I’m 94 and I’ve known what Pig means for quite some years. Thanks Stephan.

So, does this make up for all of Pastis’ bad puns over the years?

A melancholy Pig. When I get like this, something in the back of my brain tells me that something is about to go wrong…..very wrong….very soon! Almost like we are not suppose to have good thoughts like this and now we can expect punishment.

I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult. – E.B. White

" … oh, and try not to chop down the last tree in the meadow."

I spent the whole comic waiting for the cynical punch line. Surprise ending, it didn’t come. Very good.

Hahahahahahaha?

Pearls of wisdom.

And a swine was involved.

I’ll choose faith, though.

Laugh as much as you can—at bad puns too.

“The just shall live by faith”, and laugh a lot too.

“The just shall live by faith”, and laugh a lot too.

So, um, Stephan? As sympathetically as possible, “who died?”

Wow! Coming just a couple of weeks after Rat’s “Six Stages of Marriage”, methinks I’ll be heading for “Pearls” first thing each day!!

“Pearls”, Indeed!!! Thanks, Mr. Pastis!!

Thanks, nice way to start the day.

Or you could just go to sleep at night and wake up to a hot, fresh cup of coffee.

Lazy is when you look at a Sunday strip, think “Too many words”, and skip to the next one.

Up there with the 2003-12-28 Jerusalem Bus strip.

Two thoughts. 1 – You’re getting older and soft. 2. Awesome strip today.

I may sometimes cry from laughing at Steph’s awesome puns but this one brought tears from the heart. Thanks Pig.

I didn’t get the pun.

Toon boy has been at the Absinthe, I’d say. But what he says has merit.

I cope by this -

Q: What’s the purpose of everything ?A: Whatever point you choose to give it!

“Man shouldn’t play God!”“Well, if we don’t, who will?”

(With apologies to the believers amongst us.)

I do find it interesting that people will claim “nobody knows.” There are things I have faith in. But there are a few things that I know.

I’m with Pig; I always try to find some humor in every situation. Not always possible, but i come close.

Nailed it

Or you could, you know, actually UNDERSTAND. That might be nice.

Thanks, Stephen.

Well said, sir.

Sounds like my dad. We got talking about the Purpose Of Life once, and he said “The purpose of life is to do as much good and as little harm as possible, and to have fun while doing it.”

Perhaps today’s comic balances Rat’s comment from yesterday about the cruelty of perspective?

It’s not the best we can do, but it should be the least.

Outstanding…

Very touching…..need to take time to think about what is really important. It made me think of a couple songs:

“Don’t hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky It slips away, and all your money won’t another minute buy” – “Dust In The Wind” Kansas

“Harry got up Dressed all in black Went down to the station And he never came back They found his clothing Scattered somewhere down the track And he won’t be down on Wall Street in the morning

He had a home The love of a girl But men get lost sometimes As years unfurl One day he crossed some line And he was too much in this world But I guess it doesn’t matter anymore" – “New York Minute” Don Henley

“The greatest futility! Everything is futile!” What does a person gain from all his hard workAt which he toils under the sun? A generation is going, and a generation is coming, But the earth remains forever.  The sun rises, and the sun sets; Then it hurries back to the place where it rises again. All things are wearisome; No one can even speak of it. The eye is not satisfied at seeing; Nor is the ear filled from hearing. What has been is what will be, And what has been done will be done again; There is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one may say, “Look at this—it is new”? It already existed from long ago; It already existed before our time. No one remembers people of former times; Nor will anyone remember those who come later; Nor will they be remembered by those who come still later.  I have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. I set my heart to study and explore with wisdom everything that has been done under the heavens— I saw all the works that were done under the sun,And look! everything was futile, a chasing after the wind.- Solomon / Ecclesiastes Chapter 1

Nihilism…. the philosophy of despair.

❤️

Thank, you, Mr. Pastis. Now go grab a Pliny :-)

Sermon on the stump.

amen

best ever. period

Great comic, Stephan! No doubt!

Never thought the “meaning of live” would come to me through a cartoon strip. Bullseye!

Thank you for that it made me cry, touching!!

Genius.

This is lovely.

If Rat had interrupted Pig’s beautiful dialogue then I would not be a happy bunny.

xxx

Wow, what a piglosophy!

Mr. Pastis, I salute you with the words of Mark Twain (writing in “The Mysterious Stranger”); “Your race, in its poverty, has unquestionably one really effective weapon-laughter. Power, Money, Persuasion, Supplication, Persecution-these can lift at a colossal humbug-push it a little-crowd it a little-weaken it a little, century by century: but only Laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of Laughter nothing can stand.” Well done, Mr. Pastis. And well done, Pig. Thank you.

Camus, in his play Caligula has a character say, “Men die, and they are not happy.” Stephan, you, Shakespeare and countless others have raised these points. It’s always touching because it concerns us all. But this strip is so beautifully done, it’s a keeper. Reminds me of a “Peanuts” strip in which Sparky has CB sitting on a hill at night. He says in one panel, “I know we only pass this way once.” and two panels later, still looking at the stars, he says, “I wonder why I passed this way.” That hit me than as your strip does now. Thanks.

STEPHAN! This was great. <3

We are here to learn how to love. To choose compassion while learning why we need it so much.

Thanks Stephen. This one brought tears to my eyes. It’s very good. Hugs to you!Victoria

Very nice Mr. Pastis. Thank you!

i really don’t appreciate Stump Speeches. Especially when Pig goes all pedantic and philosophical on us….

Excellent!!!

Optomistic Nihilism

This is definitely a pearl.

‘Faith is when you believe something you know not to be true.’ Mark Twain

‘Faith is when you believe something you know not to be true.’ Mark Twain

This is going up next to my 22 Sep 2013 Calvin and Hobbes

This is one, if not my fave, Pearls toon. Thank you!

This is one, if not my fave, Pearls toon. Thank you!

This is one, if not my fave, Pearls toon. Thank you!

Pig is right. We are all scared, and we like comfort. This is one of the best strips.

I am here to contribute what I can to life not o take what I can from life.

Did you guys miss the punch line? “Laugh as much as you can.”

see? cartoonists can be deep too

Reminds me of a song, I always liked:

“No one knows, what it’s like

To be a bad man,

To be a sad man

Behind blue eyes.

And no one knows what it’s like

To be hated,

To be fated,

To tell only lies.

But my dreams they aren’t as empty,

As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely

My love is venegance, that’s never free."

Nice.

WORST PEARLS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

No one knows where we’re going, but we don’t have to make it a miserable trip! Stop whining and admire the scenery! Or sing, “I know a song that’ll really get on your nerves” until someone smacks you upside the head.