I think you can strive to attain it, but be realistic about the outcome. In the meantime, I find I might be experiencing it through flashes or brief moments in love and art, and at times just being alive.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
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.
Happiness is going to come and go, but to have a chance at intermittent happiness you need to be free from fear. In our culture, in our day, we can lose sight of what a rare gift that is: to live free from fear
The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 22 May 2015 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 158 →Creating something and feeling proud of it.
Jane Birkin
Singer, songwriter, actor
Christmas with my girls, my brother, my sister, and all the children.
A walk on the Golden Strand beach in County Mayo, on the West Coast of Ireland.
More from James Taylor
View profile →I don’t remember the womb, so … my first taste of ice cream? First night in a girl’s bed: happy.
Noam Chomsky, Barack Obama.
Still nuclear annihilation.
More on identity & self
- What is your greatest fear? 255 answers
- Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? 243 answers
- What most recently made you cry? 193 answers
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? 192 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 110 answers
- What are you most proud of? 100 answers
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Ai Weiwei, Alan Arkin, Alfre Woodard, Alfred Molina, Alice Waters, Allison Janney
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