Warren Buffett on his friendship with Charlie Munger: We never had any doubts about the other person

My name is Ange, Andrew Nikas and I’m wondering if you had one more day with Charlie, what would you do with him? Well, it’s kind of interesting because in effect I did that one more day. I mean, it wasn’t a full day or anything, but but he we we always lived in a way where we were happy with what we were doing every day. I mean, CC liked learning. He liked, as I mentioned the movie, he liked a wide variety of things. So he was much broader than I was. But I didn’t have any great desire to be as broad as he was and he didn’t have any great desire to be as as narrow as I. But we had a lot of fun doing anything and you know we played golf together. We played tennis together. We we did everything together and and and this you may find kind of interesting. We we had as much fun perhaps even more to some extent with things that failed because then we really had to work and work our way out of them And and in a sense there’s more there’s more fun having having somebody that’s your partner and and digging your way out of a foxhole than there is just sitting there and and watching an idea that you got 10 years ago just continually produce more and more profits. So it it it wasn’t, you know, he really he really fooled me though. He went to to 99.9 years. I mean if you pick two guys you know he never he he publicly said he never did a day of exercise except for what was required when he was in the army. He never did a day of voluntary exercise. He never thought about what he ate. You know, it it it, you know, we started every day and Charlie had, he was interested in more things than I was, but we never had any doubts about the other person, period. And so if I’d had another day with him, we’d probably do them the same thing we were doing the earlier days. But and and we wouldn’t have wanted another we only had one day that that there’s a great advantage and and not knowing where you’re going to what day you’re going to die and Charlie always said you know that just tell me where I’m going to die so I’ll never go there. Well it the truth is you know he went everywhere with his mind and and therefore he was not only interested in the world at 99, but the world was interested in him. It’s it’s remarkable you know they he he I wouldn’t I I told him toward that in the last few years I’d never seen anybody that was peaking you know at 99 and and and and where the world wanted to come and see him. I mean they actually wanted to go off of 351 N June St. and whether it was well I could name a whole bunch of names but just I’ll start with Elon Musk but get on the list and they all wanted to meet Charlie and Charlie was happy to talk with him and I I the only the only person I could think of otherwise was the Dalai Lama. I don’t know that they had a lot else in common but but but but it was he. He he lived his life the way he wanted to do and he got to say what he wanted to say. He like I loved having a podium and and again I can’t remember any time that he was mad at me or I was mad at him it just didn’t happen And calling him was fun back when long distance rates were high and and the and we didn’t talk as often as the years in recent years as we used to be on daily for long periods and and we did keep learning and we liked learning together but you know money that we tended to be a little smarter because when as the years went by because we had mistakes and we had other things that where we learned something And and the fact that he and I were on the same wavelength in that respect meant that that the world was still a very interesting place to us when he got to be 99 and I got to be 93. So I don’t have a perfect answer for you there but I can tell you the ingredients that would go into sometimes people would say to him me or Charlie at one of these meetings. You know if you had only meet have lunch with one person that I’ve lived over the last 2000 or so years, you know, who would you want to have it with? Charlie says. I’ve already met all of them. You know, because he he he read all the books. I mean he he, he and he eliminated all the trouble of going to restaurants to meet him or anything like that. He just went through a book and he’d met Ben Franklin and he he really he he was remarkable. He he said he really had no one else to meet because he he’d read all their stuff and he liked Ben Franklin’s stuff better and he liked mine. But but but with Ben Franklin, he just had to read about it. He didn’t have to he didn’t have to go have lunch with him or anything of the sort. But it’s an interesting question. What you should probably ask yourself is that who do you feel that you’d want to start spending the last day of your life with and and then figure out a way to start meeting them for tomorrow and and meet them as often as you can. That’s why wait a little last day at and don’t bother with the others.