Carly Simon: Which trait in yourself do you like least?

The question

Which trait in yourself do you like least?

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.

Carly Simon

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Forgetting. Or, worse yet, not recognizing who my real friends are.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2010 source ↗

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Gina Lollobrigida

Sometimes I follow my instincts more than my reason.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2013 source ↗

Judy Blume Novelist

My phobias. I’m down to two, so I take that as a positive sign.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2023 source ↗

Stephen K Amos

I’m slightly impatient.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 September 2025 source ↗

Cyndi Lauper

I cut people off a lot when I talk. It’s a terrible habit.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2020 source ↗

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

Living in London in the late 60s—setting my hair with beer cans and shopping for shoes in Knightsbridge.

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

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

The absence of fear, and the recognition that we are all on this ship of fools together. We may in fact go to the big ship’s Art Deco bar and have a glass of champagne, toasting our foibles.

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

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Gina Lollobrigida, Monica Dolan, Sam Ryder, Julian Lennon, Chaka Khan, Cyndi Lauper

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