An Old Sailor Lost at Sea

An old sailor repeatedly got lost at sea, so his friends gave him a compass with and urged him to use it. The next time he took the compass but as usual he was unable to find land. He was rescued by his friends and they asked, “Why didn’t you use the compass? The sailor responded, “I wanted to go north, but as hard as I tried to make the needle aim in that direction, it just kept on pointing southeast.” He was so certain he knew which way was north that he tossed the compass aside as worthless and failed to benefit from the guidance it offered. (Source unknown).