Testing, Problems, Difficulties
Illustration★★★A young man was studying ornithology [the study of birds] and had a tough
professor. When he came for a test, the professor gave him 25 pictures of
birds’ feet and told him he had to identify which birds they came from. “I’m
not going to do this. Nobody could pass this test,” exclaimed the exasperated
boy. “Then I’ll fail you,” said the professor. “So fail me,” the student replied
angrily. “Okay, what’s your name?” The student took off his shoes and said,
“You tell me.”
“I’ve just left 150,000 people who have no problems at all,” said a man.
“That’s great. Take me to them,” replied his friend. “They’re in the cemetery.”
Touch a thistle timidly and it pricks you! Grasp it boldly and its spines
crumble.
Found in Hot Sermon Illustrations, Tony Llewellyn · page 115
The point
Student balked at an impossible ornithology test until professor challenged him to identify his own feet, cleverly reversing the test on the authority figure.