One sunny day a rabbit came out of his hole in to enjoy the fine weather. The day was so nice that he became careless and a fox sneaked up on him.
"I am going to eat you for lunch," said the fox.
"Wait," replied the rabbit, "You should at least wait a few days."
"Why should I wait?"
"Well, I am just finishing my thesis on 'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'"
"I should eat you right now. Everybody knows that a fox will always win over a rabbit."
"Not according to my research. If you like, you can come into my hole and read it for yourself. If you are not convinced, you can go ahead and have me for lunch."
"As the fox was curious and had nothing to lose, he went with the rabbit ... but he never came out.
A few days later the rabbit was again taking a break from writing and sure enough, a wolf came out of the bushes and was ready to set upon him.
"Wait," yelled the rabbit, "you can't eat me right now."
"And why might that be, my furry appetizer?"
"I am almost finished writing my thesis on 'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'"
The wolf laughed so hard that he almost lost its grip on the rabbit. "Maybe I shouldn't eat you; you must be sick. You might have something contagious."
"Come and read it for yourself; you can eat me afterward if you disagree with my conclusions."
So the wolf went down into the rabbit's hole ... and never came out. The rabbit finished his thesis and went to celebrate in the local lettuce patch.
Another rabbit came along and asked, "What's up? You seem very happy."
"I just finished my thesis."
"What's it about?"
"'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'"
"Are you sure? That doesn't sound right."
"Come and read it for yourself."
Together they went down the rabbit's hole. As they entered, the friend saw the typical graduate abode, albeit a rather messy one after writing a thesis. The controversial work was in one corner. To the right there was a pile of fox bones, and to the left a pile of wolf bones. And in the middle was a large, well-fed bear.
The moral of this story:
The title of your thesis doesn't matter. The subject doesn't matter. The research doesn't matter. All that matters is who is your advisor.
----------------A Final Thought ...
"The average Ph.D. thesis is nothing but a transference of bones from one graveyard to another."
- J. Frank Dobie (1888–1964), US author