The Panzer Pistol Rule

There's a great scene in the Czech film Closely Watched Trains. The main character, Milos, is remembering the "heroes" in his family, and brings up the bravery of his hypnotist grandfather, who, when the Germans were crossing into Czechoslovakia, stood in the front of their tanks and worked his hypnosis so they'd stop. Did they stop? Yes—for a few seconds. Then they started to roll again, right over top of grandpa.


You Can't Stop a Panzer with a Pistol

Don't try to stop a Panzer if all you've got is a pistol. Either get yourself a better tactic and a more powerful weapon, or step aside. If you step forward and open puny fire, you're roasted.

Or, in more practical terms:

If you're faced with a massive assignment and all you can muster is a half-hearted attempt at plagiarism that's full of obvious copy-and-pasting, don't even bother. You'll get crushed.

Good plagiarism takes work and effort. But, as long as it takes less work than actual original research and writing, you come out ahead. Just remember not to get too greedy, and do assess the situation correctly. Papers that are worth more marks will be read more closely. Papers that are more closely read require a more sophisticated level of plagiarism to pass undetected.

Hence, while you can't stop a Panzer with a pistol, you can stop it with a well-placed bazooka blast. Find the bazooka, aim the blast.

see also: The Elephant Gun Rule