Starting a Lecture

This is one of the many devices I use at the beginning of my lectures in China in order to grab the students’ attention.

Sometimes I start in Latin,  other times with a quotation from my illustrious namesake, Marcus Cato the Elder.

On this occasion I started  by asking for all the idiots in the room to stand up. One brave soul did so. Of course I didn’t expected anyone to do so, so I asked him, “Why did you stand up?”

The student, who obviously was a bit of a wag, if not slightly lacking in good manners, replied: “Well, Sir, I didn’t want you to be the only idiot  standing up!”