By Peter @Newton Bell, 21 December 2016
I recently had the pleasure to spend some time talking with Albert Lu, who publishes the Power and Market Report. The conversation started with Albert’s answers to The Proust Questionnaire. Albert is always an entertaining presence at the Capitalism & Morality Conference and I believe you will enjoy his answers to the questionnaire below.
P: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A: I’m stumped right away. The way I look at things is that perfection is something that really doesn’t exist. If you want to be happy, really happy, and approach perfect happiness then you’ve got to just live in the moment. There are things that will prevent you from really enjoying a happy moment and I think you’ve got to push that stuff out of the way and live in the moment.
P: Great, good for you. Thank you! The next question is: What is your greatest fear?
A: For me, that’s easy, it’s just not being there for my kids – in any way.
P: Thanks again. Short and sweet! What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
A: I don’t, actually. I don’t deplore anything in myself, so it’s an easy one.
P: That’s a great answer for this question. And what is the trait you most deplore in others?
A: Same answer. Deplore is a pretty strong word and it is something that I usually don’t feel.
P: Which living person do you most admire?
A: Living person… I’d have to say my father. Just because of what he accomplished based on where he started. He was an immigrant, had nothing, grew up without very much in the way of material advantages and overcame all of that. Came to this country, got higher education, graduate degree, built a business from nothing, and became extremely successful.
P: And what is your greatest extravagance?
A: That one is pretty easy, too. I have been pursuing, really, a hobby for the last twelve years. I don’t really feel like I have worked for the last twelve years. I used to be an engineer, I gave that up in 2004 and have been doing things that I really enjoy since then – travelling, reading, started a business, started a podcast, started a youtube channel. I did all of these things purely because I wanted to. I’ve spent over a decade doing that, so that’s got to be it.
P: What is your current state of mind?
A: I feel lucky. I feel lucky that I can do what I’m doing, that I’ve been afforded these opportunities – very fortunate – is how I feel.
P: What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
A: I would say charity. We discuss these things at the conference where we met. Not that there’s anything wrong charity. The question is ‘what’s overrated’ and I think charity is overrated because it under-rates the contribution of capital and people pursuing self-interest.
P: And on what occasion do you lie, Albert?
A: I try not to but, occasionally, to children. When I feel like saying something would be harmful is a time that I do it.
P: What do you most dislike about your appearance?
A: I try not to think about it.
P: Fair. And which living person do you most despise?
A: I think I’ll pass on that.
P: And what is the quality you most like in a man?
A: Integrity.
P: What is the quality you most like in a woman?
A: Same.
P: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
A: “Great” I say a lot in my podcast. It’s become a bit of a crutch for me, but until I find another one I’m going to keep using it.
P: Great.(laughs) What or who is the greatest love of your life?
A: My wife Joanne and our kids, we have two kids.
P: When and where were you happiest?
A: You know, I’ve been happy for the vast majority of my adult life. I’ve been pretty fortunate. Childhood, at times, was rough but I’ve been mostly happy. If I had to pick out something specific, I would say that I was there for the birth of both of my children – those are specific moments that I can remember being very happy. Overall, it’s been a pretty good life.
P: Good for you. Which talent would you most like to have?
A: Patience, if that counts as a talent. I’d like to be more patient.
P: If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
A: That would be it! I would be more patient.
P: And what do you consider your greatest achievement?
A: I can’t answer that question. I really look at life in terms of experiences, not achievements. I don’t really have an answer for that.
P: All good, thanks. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A: Just out of curiosity, I think it would be interesting to come back as myself but be able to go to a different time. Probably in the future is where I would want to go.
P: Where would you most like to live?
A: I like to move around and I like cities. There is no specific place that I’d like to live, but I would like to experience living in different places.
P: What is your most treasured possession?
A: I don’t really treasure possessions, per se, but I do value security. For that reason, it’s things like money assets, health, my abilities to produce things that are valued by other people, all because I value security.
P: What do you regard as the lowest depths of misery?
A: Tough one, Peter! Lowest depths of misery… I guess, losing everything. But that’s different for every person. For me, family is very important. For someone else, it may be different. Just losing all the things that you value would be pretty miserable.
P: What is your favourite occupation?
A: It’s always the one that I’m on. I’ve changed a couple times, I like change. Right now I manage money – that’s great. But, I would say that I don’t have one. I look forward to doing new and different things.
P: What is your most marked characteristic?
A: Since I was about twelve years old, people have been telling me I look like Bruce Lee. I’m a little older now, but it still happens so I will go with that.
P: What do you most value in your friends?
A: Wow – can we come back to that one? I want to answer that, but it’s a tough one.
P: Who are your favourite writers?
A: This is going to be a cop-out because I’m not much of a reader. Both my wife and my dad are writers, so I will go with them.
P: Who is your hero of fiction?
A: Don’t have one. May have had one at one point, but no-one comes to mind now.
P: Which historical figure do you most identify with?
A: Don’t have an answer there either. I have trouble identifying with living people, so historical people is too tough. Sorry.
P: Who are your heroes in real life?
A: It’s my dad, for the reasons I discussed earlier.
P: What are your favourite names?
A: My kids, Louis and Daniella. Those are names that I helped pick.
P: What is that you most dislike?
A: Busybodies. People who get in other people’s business. I’m a live and let live kind of person, so I don’t like people meddling. Meddlers, you could say.
P: What is your greatest regret?
A: Maybe times in my past when I haven’t treated people as good as I could have.
P: That’s a big one! How would you like to die?
A: Satisfied.
P: And what is your motto?
A: If I had to make one up now, then I would say “live in the moment” or “one day at a time”.
P: Great, thank you Albert. If you’d like to come back to Question #26 here a bit “What do you most value in your friends?”
A: I feel like I have to answer this one because it’s so important.
P: No, you don’t! Certainly, you do not have to answer this one.
A: It’s tough. What did you put for this one?
P: Good question – let me go back and see… “Friendliness!” (laughs)
A: OK. Well, I might be able to do better than that.
P: The flippant answers seem to be best for most of these questions, to me.
A: You know what – it’s that they appreciate who I am. That’s what it is. The good and the bad. They know me – they know me better than anyone else, except maybe my parents. They like you for who you are.
P: Great, thank you very much for going those questions with me, Albert.
A: You’re welcome, Peter. Would be interesting to see how my answers compare with others in some kind of computer analysis.
P: Ha! Well, we could do a Myers-Briggs Personality test, but I think that’s probably too invasive. The Proust Questionnaire is a bit more highbrow, but still lets us get a sense of who you are. Thanks again for going through it with me here, great to get to know you better.
A: Thanks, Peter.
