Dustin Hoffman: What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

The question

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Dustin Hoffman

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

The moment I knew I would spend my life with Lisa.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2009 source ↗

Others on this question

It’s hard to pick one time. I feel like I’m quite a happy person. My ninth birthday was epic, though.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2014 source ↗

Ashley Walters British actor and rapper

My primary school years.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 January 2012 source ↗

Cycling around Martha’s Vineyard alone in the summer of 1976.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2026 source ↗

Watching my sons ski down a mountain for the first time.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2024 source ↗

When the coffee kicks in early in the morning and I’m on the couch with my dogs, reading the paper.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 February 2009 source ↗

My belief that saying it makes it happen.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2009 source ↗

The Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, who is 100 years old and still working.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2009 source ↗

Search the directory for somebody in particular.