Perfect happiness is having a wife who loves you and doesn’t ask for too much jewelry.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
Verbatim recurring item in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Taking an overnight train in Europe.
The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 20 January 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 158 →
Yo-Yo Ma
Cellist
Those times when I feel equilibrium, maximum consciousness, and clarity.
I think you can strive to attain it, but be realistic about the outcome. In the meantime, I find I might be experiencing it through flashes or brief moments in love and art, and at times just being alive.
Creating something and feeling proud of it.
More from Keith McNally
View profile →Craving the kind of success I pretend to despise.
Using knowledge as a weapon.
Cycling around Martha’s Vineyard alone in the summer of 1976.
My children dying before me.
More on identity & self
- What is your greatest fear? 256 answers
- Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? 243 answers
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? 195 answers
- What most recently made you cry? 193 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 111 answers
- What are you most proud of? 103 answers
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Ina Garten, Bobbi Brown, Vera Wang, Donatella Versace, Martha Stewart, Warren Buffett
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- All identity & self questions
- The The Proust Questionnaire questionnaire — 5 questions from the same format
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