Keith McNally: 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.

Keith McNally

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Craving the kind of success I pretend to despise.

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

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Michelle Yeoh

Impatience and anger.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2022 source ↗

Andrea Martin

Standing up while eating.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, April 2017 source ↗

Mary Tyler Moore

Well, first of all I’d like to change the word “deplore” to “dislike.” I guess that I’m almost a hermit; I don’t enjoy going out that much, and so I tend to take my happiness from the joys of my home and my husband.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, May 2012 source ↗

Edward Enninful Ghanaian-born English editor and stylist

Impatience. Though sometimes it helps!

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 December 2022 source ↗

More from Keith McNally

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

Taking an overnight train in Europe.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 20 January 2026 source ↗

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

Using knowledge as a weapon.

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

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

My children dying before me.

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

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

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

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

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