Annie Dillard Quote
Annie Dillard is one of my favorite authors. Here's a short story from her:

Starlings are notoriously difficult to "control." The story is told of a man who was bothered by starlings roosting in a large sycamore near his house. He said he tried everything to get rid of them and finally took a shotgun to three of them and killed them. When asked if that discouraged the birds, he reflected a minute, leaned forward, and said confidentially, "Those three it did."

As a teacher, I often feel like that man.