Greek shipping-heir-turned-social-critic Taki explains how he acquired his first yacht: "[After my first wife left] I moped for weeks, boring everyone with stories about the perfidious nature of the weaker sex and threatening suicide. That's when my father came to the rescue. 'Your mother is worried about you,' he told me over the telephone from Greece. 'I know you're faking, but do go and buy yourself a boat. And charge it to me.' This was 1968. My only regret after accepting my father's generous offer was that I had not thought of threatening suicide before."
Yachts of luck [Forbes via 601am]