Margaret Atwood
Novelist, poet and critic
Can't pick and choose, it's bad luck.
When were you happiest?
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
What do you value most in your friends?
Relationships
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.
Sunday mornings with my parents when I visited from college.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2015 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Pauline McLynn
Irish character actress and author
I hope the happiest moment is still ahead of me.
From a professional standpoint, it didn’t get any better than achieving our ultimate goal, whether that meant six NBA championships in eight years, or two Olympic gold medals. But I’m more low-key than people realize. Give me an evening with family or friends, and I’m good.
Julien Macdonald
Welsh fashion designer
With my family in Wales.
More from Mindy Kaling
View profile →People taking themselves seriously.
Generally? Hurting someone’s feelings. Specifically? Being kidnapped while on vacation.
Falling asleep watching a movie on a sofa because I drank too much wine at dinner, my head resting on the thigh of a loved one, who will later explain what happened.
They want to leave the party the same time I do.
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Louis Smith, Michael Ball, Bernadette Peters, Bruce Willis, Joanna Scanlan, Terry O'Neill
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