That we will be remembered as a people who locked our fellow citizens in cages and who believe that some people are rich and some people are poor because “it’s their nature” and that racism and poverty are inevitable parts of the order of things; that M.L.K. and Bobby Kennedy died in vain; and that no one any longer believes what M.L.K. said in his Nobel Prize address in Oslo: “There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to get rid of it.”
What is your greatest fear?
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
The exact prompt is fixed in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and independently sustained in The Guardian's The Q&A over multiple decades.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Ironically, it’s talking to hundreds of people in a room.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 October 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 278 →When I was little, a couple of rapes took place in Glasgow. I remember my mum saying to walk in the middle of the pavement, and to this day I am very conscious of where I am.
Leelee Kimmel
American actress and artist
That was scary because I am afraid of guns.
Every actor has the same fear – ie, you’re never going to work again.
More from Dervla Kirwan
View profile →A forensic scientist.
As a decent human being.
A little bit more self-confidence.
A few weeks ago, walking on the beach in Anglesey with my dogs and my husband.
About five years ago, I was in a play that was an unmitigated disaster. I had to rally the troops and go out every night.
Recently, sending a negative text about a person to that person.
More on identity & self
- Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? 257 answers
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? 222 answers
- What most recently made you cry? 193 answers
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? 165 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 120 answers
- What are you most proud of? 116 answers
Also answered this
Judd Apatow, Richard Schiff, Hugh Grant, Eleanor Tomlinson, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Little Richard
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All identity & self questions
- The The Proust Questionnaire questionnaire — 5 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject