Craving the kind of success I pretend to despise.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What do you value most in your friends?
Relationships
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.
I’m chronically late. It’s magical thinking: I actually believe I can take a shower and get dressed in three minutes, that the train will be pulling into the station the moment I arrive….
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →
Maureen O'Hara
Irish and American actress and singer
I’d rather name one for someone else. I’m egomaniacal.
Maxi-multitasking.
Erin O'Connor
English model
I'm too diplomatic. I tend to edit my mind before I speak - it can be incredibly draining.
More from Michael Cunningham
View profile →The very idea of perfect happiness. Who wouldn’t be happy about the proposition that happiness can be perfect?
The fact that, until recently, “the end of the world” would have seemed pretentious and evasive, and now seems like the only possible answer.
Forbearance with my chronic tardiness.
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