“It’s one of those lessons we learn from the deaths of famous philosophers.”

I blinked at him, perplexed. He sighed.

“There are three basic lessons. One from Plato, one from Descartes, and one from Francis Bacon.”

I leaned against the wall and folded my arms.

“First, do you know how Plato died?”

“No.”

“Ok, so, not many people know this, but he was a radical vegetarian. Not only would he not eat meat, but he wouldn’t even eat any plants unless they had died on their own. So, like, apples that fell from trees ‘n stuff.”

“Lame.”

“Anyways, over the years he had made a number of enemies, as any good philosopher can be expected to. Unfortunately, one of these enemies hired some bounty hunters to have him killed.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“And so they were chasing him, and cornered him at this bean field. He wouldn’t run any further, since trampling the beans was against his principles. So they slaughtered him.”

“The lesson being?”

“Just that refusing to compromise on your principles can get you killed.”