Patti Smith
Musician, poet and photographer
Collapse of the imagination.
What is your greatest fear?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
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.
To overcook that plate of fettuccine.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2021 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 256 →
David Hasselhoff
American actor, singer, and television personality
Not working and not being able to continue to live this lifestyle.
Fear is for frightened people. I’m not one of those.
Bryn Terfel
Welsh bass-baritone singer
I’ve been a strong advocate that all my five children should be great swimmers, so you can deduce what my fear is.
More from Sophia Loren
View profile →In the hospital when my children were born.
I’m a perfectionist; it’s boring.
A plate of fettuccine ragù with my kids.
More on identity & self
- 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
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? 158 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 111 answers
- What are you most proud of? 103 answers
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