How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets

by Felix Dennis

Here’s my favorite story about the “infallibility” of power. It concerns a man in charge of a billion dollars’ worth of machinery who thinks he knows everything. The transcript was released (rather mischievously) by the chief of British Naval Operations in 1995, from a recorded radio conversation overheard at sea near the coast of British Columbia. NAVY VOICE: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision. CIVILIAN VOICE: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision. NAVY VOICE: This is the captain of a US navy ship. I say again, divert your course. CIVILIAN VOICE: No. I say again, divert your course. NAVY VOICE: This is the aircraft carrier Enterprise. We are a large warship of the US navy. Divert your course now! CIVILIAN VOICE: This is a lighthouse. Your call.