Self-criticism.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What do you value most in your friends?
Relationships
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Laziness and procrastination.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2010 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →The boozing. I started on rum as a child.
Oh, I have a long list. You should ask me what I like about myself—that list is much shorter.
I get distracted by anything and everything, so all my projects finish just before the deadline. Sometimes, it’s a bit too tight.
More from Helen Mirren
View profile →I remember thinking, when I was in my early 30s, that this is the best age to be, and I still believe your 30s are a wonderful time. But I think I am pretty happy now.
Their ability to open a bottle of wine.
Sister Alice Marie Quinn, who runs St. Vincent Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles.
Serially telling endless boring jokes and sexism and racism and homophobia (they often go together).
To sit by a clear river on a warm day in early July with the smell of cut grass in the air.
More on identity & self
Also answered this · A–Z
Adam Kay, Adam Lambert, Adele Parks, Adrian Dunbar, Al Franken, Alex Hassell
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All identity & self questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject