Zadie Smith
Novelist and essayist
Narcissism, solipsism.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
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.
Absentmindedness.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 252 →
Courtney Pine
British jazz musician
I am not studious enough. I get easily distracted.
Marina Abramović
Performance artist
My difficulty to forgive.
Being judgmental.
More from Bob Schieffer
View profile →When I finished writing a book.
Getting hired. With the possible exception of my daughters’ births and my wedding day, the happiest moments of my life were when someone offered me a job.
Talking too much.
Failure to be on time.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Jon Sopel, Ed Koch, Rory Stewart, Al Franken, Mike Wallace, John Lewis
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