I retired a favorite old t-shirt. The text read:
Jean Paul Sartre’s answering machine
… I am not here
… You’re not here
… Don’t leave a message
… There is no beep
Some angst at letting it go.
The meaning of its 21 years of existence?
Was it only to cover a man’s torso?
And now it is committed to the void.
Or to the landfill, where it will rest in pieces …
Related: Sartre’s classic essay “Existentialism Is a Humanism,” in my Philosophers, Explained series.
That was a very rare artwork. How dare you destroy it? You could have at least dropped it at the SA.
Existential angst, my Aunt Fanny.
We have the same tshirt in our family. It passed down from my dad, to my brother, to my sister, to me. Has similar holes and also needs to be retired soon. I was wondering if you knew the source of the cartoon? I’d love to get everyone a little print to remember the tshirt by!