Martin Scorsese: If you could alter one thing about yourself, what would it be?

The question

If you could alter one thing about yourself, what would it be?

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.

Martin Scorsese

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

First of all, I’d like to stop complaining—I’m beginning to annoy myself. I would like to learn to read faster, however. Again, the rest I’ve learned to live with.

The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 22 February 2010 source ↗

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Naomi Campbell

I’m not going to change anything about myself. I am happy and blessed with what God gave me, and I really have nothing to complain about.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 5 April 2021 source ↗

Brooke Shields

I would erase my fear of dying, but I suppose that would be erasing some of my human condition.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 18 February 2025 source ↗

Stephen Fry Actor, writer and broadcaster

My laziness. Not in work-related matters, but social laziness. Thank-you letters, organization, that sort of thing.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 10 June 2015 source ↗

Derek Sivers Founder of CD Baby; author of Anything You Want

So for years I kept calling myself an entrepreneur until one day I realized like, wait a second, this is expired! Like somebody who is an athlete in high school can’t keep calling himself an athlete forever.

Recorded Tim Ferriss, The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, 23 April 2023 source ↗

More from Martin Scorsese

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Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

When my friends and I were making Mean Streets, 1973.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, March 2010 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

Laziness, wasting time. I’d like to be able to make films faster.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, March 2010 source ↗

Question What does happiness look like for you when life is going well? Identity & self

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.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 March 2010 source ↗

Question What trait do you most dislike in other people? Values & belief

Actually, I dislike dealing with schedules and logistics—mine and others’.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, March 2010 source ↗

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Derek Sivers, Stephen Fry, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Brooke Shields, Snoop Dogg

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