Lies to Live By
  • Chris Kuan
    February 20, 2009

    I dunno, but as a 2-time tourist, I really do like New York City.

  • Inky
    February 20, 2009

    this is how i feel right now

  • schnctdy
    February 20, 2009

    this is so very very true

  • Jeff
    February 20, 2009

    Dorothy,

    Is there anyone else in public view right now who regularly asks insightful philosophical questions the way you do? Certainly not in a way that’s as enjoyable as you do it!

    The answer to today’s question is: Forget the pond, you’ve got lungs! Which is to say, an individual’s significance is best judged in relation to his or her own actions and not in relation to others. Are you happy? Do you positively influence the happiness of others?

  • Lulu
    February 20, 2009

    This tea used to be too hot.

  • Stu
    February 20, 2009

    I’ve heard fish usually grow to fit the size of their tank. Probably true with ponds, too.

  • Paul
    February 20, 2009

    One of your better strips. I like it even if I don’t understand it.

  • Brandon
    February 20, 2009

    But the big pond is actually made up of many small ponds. Best of both worlds.

  • Esteban (I Do Not Make Guitars)
    February 20, 2009

    Hah! I am commenting under two names now apparently: this one the product of an internet cookie’s superior memory compared to this puny hu-man’s, and the other a fault of laziness on my part to go back to my original comments and copy verbatim what should have gone into the appropriate fields. Well, now you’ll know which computer I’m at depending upon my identity. I’ll give you a hint, one’s at work…

    Jeff: Wouldn’t “positively influencing the happiness of others” constitute as judging your significance in relation to others? Is there such thing as a value that exists alone in its universe with no relations to any other values? I would think all of an individual’s actions, to have a value attached to them, must necessarily be comparative.

    And yes, I will always pine for nice grocery stores when I find myself in places of cultural worth.

  • Seann
    February 20, 2009

    and in this pond, we call the supermarkets “Bodegas”

  • norritt
    February 20, 2009

    ah i wish i gotta chance to meet you
    but yeah seems like the big pond is the way to be

  • Jim
    February 20, 2009

    Or option C, embrace your insignificance and enjoy a carefree life. ;-)

  • Chris L
    February 20, 2009

    But if everyone happily embraces their insignificance, then nothing will get done, and we will all slowly cook to death on a warming planet. Carefree is an option we no longer have. (Doesn’t mean you can’t also have fun, of course.)

  • Ash Ponders
    February 20, 2009

    Tucson has prettier sunsets.

  • alecho
    February 20, 2009

    what is he drinking? i want some.

  • Erika
    February 20, 2009

    A little fish in a big pond has more room to move around.

    Unless the big pond is jam-packed with other fish.

  • stu
    February 21, 2009

    i have a small circle of very big fish and somehow we survive living in a fucking desert. believe me, it’s the fish who are significant, ponds don’t get up and leave.

  • Nalano
    February 21, 2009

    It’s not fish/pond. You’re insignificant where-ever you go. Welcome to the human race. Have yourself a beer.

  • Chris Jones
    February 22, 2009

    HA HA!!

    That made me laugh out loud. So true and so funny.

  • C.
    February 22, 2009

    Very appropriate post for Oscar night.

  • Rachel
    February 23, 2009

    This is so true and amazing. Thanks for clarifying my current life quandary about graduate schools.

  • carolyn
    February 24, 2009

    i don’t know.. what about the watershed? maybe it has nothing to do with the importance of the fish or a pride in the importance of the pond. Maybe the fish has an intellectual and spiritual vision that can comprehend beyond that which is immediate and find source outside itself that inspires – and nonetheless supplies energy enough to work for the general well-being of the the pond and itself. And does it have to be a lie of significance? I would counter that it could be a truth of insignificance – or a truth of significance. Not to negate the very real and relatable sentiments voiced in this cartoon – but chin up, Cat! Not everything we stand on has to be a castle built upon artificial sand! There is still truth to be sought and meaning to attempt to contain and comprehend! wwjbd? (uh, that’s joseph beuys in case that doesn’t come across.)

  • carolyn
    February 24, 2009

    or perhaps i meant, “chin up, girl!” well, both, why not?

  • Orvis
    March 6, 2009

    But C, what if I am the president of the United States?

  • Orvis
    March 6, 2009

    Agh, bedoelde ik Nalano.

  • Rory
    April 27, 2009

    Girl, I’m surprised! The little fish could end up thinking the bigger fish is more important than the pond. :(
    Or vice-versa. :)

  • Sprayette
    January 19, 2010

    Why don’t you live by the way of not seeking significance (as if that meant something, significance only exists when it is observed, so basically you’re looking for approval of others), and just doing and being what pleases you as much as you can? Just sayin’

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