What do you value most in your friends?

Originally asked

Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire

A fixed Vanity Fair Proust Questionnaire item asked across its three-decade archive, with independent variants in friendship and profile interviews.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Arnold Schwarzenegger said elsewhere, not written here
I think I value the same things everyone does—loyalty, a sense of humor, the ability to make campaign contributions.

The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 July 2003 source ↗

Others on this question

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Hans Zimmer Film composer
They can take the piss out of me and it still feels like wisdom and loyalty.
Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 8 January 2019 source ↗

More from Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Question Do you rely on inspiration or discipline to make work? Craft & work
It's just, I would say, faith. I had very clear visions of me being a champion. When I saw this picture of Reg Park on a cover, standing there like - as Hercules, from the Hercules movies, I looked at that, and then I looked at the inside and I read the story, and I immediately started creating visions of me standing there on the pedestal at the Mr. Universe contest and me being Hercules and me doing movies and so on. And that created such unbelievable drive and such unbelievable will and discipline, that there was absolutely no stopping me. I mean, I went to the gym two hours every day lifting weights. When I came home afterwards, I lifted an extra hour and a half and did bodybuilding training, and it was just relentless.
Recorded David Greene, Talk of the Nation, NPR, 2 October 2012 source ↗
Question How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? Failure & regret
Well, maybe it was successful in the end. But, I mean, to get there - one of the things that I talk about is not to be afraid of failure because you're going to fail. And I was 19 years old. I was competing in the Mr. Universe contest, and I lost. I had movies that went in the toilet. I have had policy issues and referendums that went in front of the people that I lost. And, of course, in my personal life, you know, my marriage is a big loss. So there's a lot of losses and failures that I've had. And I think that it is important that we recognize that. But no matter what it is, I always had an exciting life and always chased something, and that made, to me, the whole thing worth it. I always felt I was enriched by the fact that I always knew where I was going. And then there were some things that were unexpected. Like, running for governor was something that kind of unfolded only because there was a recall election.
Recorded A Martínez, Morning Edition, NPR, 6 October 2023 source ↗
Question Which teacher, parent, coach or friend most made you who you are, and what did you learn from them? Relationships
My father would make sure that I knew what it meant. Just to give you an example, I started bodybuilding with the age of 15, and my father would say, why are you lifting these dumbbells and barbells? Don't you think it would be better to just go out and chop some wood and shovel some coal for some poor people that don't have anyone? Therefore you would get muscles. But at the same time, you're doing something useful. You're doing something for somebody rather than just for yourself and looking in a mirror at yourself and stuff like that. So he would make sure that you knew what being useful meant.
Recorded A Martínez, Morning Edition, NPR, 6 October 2023 source ↗

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