I never want to go back; I fought so much through my life, that I have to keep going forward.
What is your greatest fear?
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What happens when we die?
Death & what remains
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
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.
Losing my husband. We are properly codependent.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 November 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 269 →
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Basketball player and author
Years ago, before I had my current manager, I was taken advantage of by people I’d trusted with my finances. That’s made me especially sensitive to the prospect of financial ruin. I’m constantly advising young athletes to be vigilant when it comes to whom you trust with your finances.
Kellie Maloney
Retired boxing manager, promoter and politician
Losing my family.
That I can’t write.
More from Nuala McGovern
View profile →Like a very full heart and a flip in my stomach when I see him.
I’m at my happiest in the ocean, and even better if my husband is there throwing me around.
Too high an expectation of others and myself.
One time an engineer said, “I always forget your frequency is at the same level as a crying baby.” I think he was on to something, because I have been told to shush many times over the years.
I think we become stars.
Compulsory headphones for phone users in public.
More on identity & self
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- What most recently made you cry? 193 answers
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? 162 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 116 answers
- What are you most proud of? 113 answers
Also answered this
Matthew Modine, Edward Enninful, Diahann Carroll, Lena Dunham, Geoffrey Rush, Bobbi Brown
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- All identity & self questions
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