I try too hard not to get things wrong.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 January 2024 source ↗
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
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.
A willingness to go with my gut feeling, rather than wait a day and contemplate other options.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2013 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 242 →
Sofia Coppola
American filmmaker and actress
Being hard on myself. I don’t want to pass that on to my daughters, so I’m trying to stop.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 March 2023 source ↗
Self-criticism.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, October 2014 source ↗
Worrying at things.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 July 2026 source ↗
More from Ed Koch
View profile →Of choking on some food and having no one nearby to do the Heimlich maneuver.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2013 source ↗
Sitting in a living room with my sister, Pat Thaler, and her seven grandchildren and just talking with them. They range in age from 9 to 21 years old.
Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 February 2013 source ↗
I would like to be more accepting of the faults of others.
Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 22 January 2013 source ↗
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