Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, from left to right: Calvin talking to Hobbes: “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, undeserved 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 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 responds: “So what did you decide?” Calvin: “Nothing, I ran out of time and I 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.”