Fear is for frightened people. I’m not one of those.
What is your greatest fear?
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
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.
Any misfortune involving our kids. Also, I have recurring nightmares that involve being chased by people or being attacked by scary animals.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 266 →
Rose Tremain
English writer
We live in a fearful age: Brexit, Covid, global warming, cancel culture, war in Ukraine. Add in pancreatic cancer and you find me in an advanced and complex state of anxiety.
John Grisham
American writer and lawyer
Having a stroke.
Being unprepared.
More from Jeff Goldblum
View profile →My wife, all those who contribute something of beauty, and scientists.
Every single person and living creature on the planet is safe and well nourished.
The first time Emilie and I kissed.
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Also answered this
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Tim Peake, Charles Dance, Rose Tremain, Roger Ebert, Leon Panetta
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