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?
On the one hand, underserved 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 consequence of my 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 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.
