Knowing that each day I have lived wisely and loved well.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Question
How would you like to die?
Death & what remains
Question
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Identity & self
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What do you value most in your friends?
Relationships
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
Verbatim recurring item in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Healthy, happy children. A wonderful, loving partner with whom to share my life.
The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 July 2012 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 158 →At sunset or under the stars on the dock of our lake house just being with my family and pals.
Every single person and living creature on the planet is safe and well nourished.
T Bone Burnett
Musician and record producer
Perfection is a second-rate idea. I would guess, however, that perfected happiness would be joy, the most intricate and mercurial of all sensations. The moment one recognizes joy, it flees. I’m not sure where Proust is going with this line of questioning, and I don’t want to be evasive, so I will say my idea of perfect happiness is the end of economics; we grow like flowers and fly like birds; the lion lays down with the lamb—a ridiculous idea.
More from Danielle Steel
View profile →Peacefully, in good physical health, sound of mind, still active, at a great age, with my children around me.
I wish I were braver, although I try. I work too hard and don’t play enough. Too much work ethic, not enough “fun.”
Losing another child. (I lost one of my sons to suicide when he was 19.)
Not always standing up for myself enough.
Loyalty, kindness, honesty, trustworthiness, reliability.
The first 10 years of my marriage, when my children were small.
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