Zoë Wanamaker
American-born British actress
The Dalai Lama because he has peace, and we all want that.
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
How would you like to die?
Death & what remains
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
My mother. She’s 85 and rather than diminishing with age, she keeps surprising and growing more marvelous. She finds fun when most are jaded, wonder when most are cynical, and is curious when most are bored. She gave me life and continues to show me how to live it daily. And I know that everyone who meets her thinks the same.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2020 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 406 →Gloria Steinem.
Louis Smith
English artistic gymnast
My mum, for putting up with me all my life.
Andrew Marr
British journalist
Probably David Hockney, for achieving a perfect balance of life and work; for making great pictures; being charitable; and remaining bloody-minded.
More from Helena Bonham Carter
View profile →Both of the days my children were born. It was like I’d stepped through a mirror and everything turned Technicolor.
My distractibility, diminishing memory, and capacity for sustained concentration. My English master once said I had the brain of a butterfly. I feel that 40 years later, I’ve evolved into Dory from Finding Nemo.
At the right time, and like my father—utterly without fear or pain, at home, with all whom I love. It was his last lesson as a parent to me.
In my bed, a hot-water bottle on my tummy, the windows are open, reading a book that I’m already into, chocolate at hand, all with the knowledge that everyone I love and know is happy.
The loss of anything, be it a loved one or a faculty—my sight, hearing, or mind.
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