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Explanation
The Joke
Someone asks, "How do you stop being jealous of other people?" A second person offers seemingly wise advice: "The key is to always do what you love — to find your biggest ideal and pursue it." They then add the cynical follow-up: "Then when other people have more success, you can recast your failure as a heroic struggle for purity or beauty or whatever."
The final panel shows someone standing alone on a hillside, asked "How much of your life is spent recontextualizing your shortcomings?" to which they reply, "Just the successful parts."
The Humor
The comic starts with what sounds like sincere motivational advice — "follow your passion" — but then reveals it as a psychological defense mechanism. The advice isn't about achieving fulfillment; it's about constructing a narrative that lets you feel noble about failing. If you pursue art for art's sake, then not making money becomes a badge of honor rather than a shortcoming.
The final panel's punchline adds another layer of self-aware irony: the only thing this person has successfully accomplished is reframing their failures. The "successful parts" of their life are entirely composed of coping mechanisms. It's a sharp observation about how "follow your passion" culture can become a sophisticated form of self-deception.
This fits a recurring SMBC theme of taking comforting platitudes and revealing the darker psychological machinery underneath them.
Votey
The red-button panel typically adds an additional punchline that extends or undercuts the comic's premise.