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The question

What does happiness look like for you when life is going well?

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.

Barack Obama

44th President of the United States, 2009–2017; United States Senator from Illinois 2005–2008

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
When I feel as if the people closest to me are happy and healthy and I'm connected with them, and when I feel as if I'm doing things that are making other people better and happy, then I feel real good. That's when I'm at my peak.

Barbara Walters, ABC News 20/20, broadcast 23 December 2011, 22 December 2011 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 158 →
I have no idea what perfect happiness feels like, but I am looking forward to the experience.
Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 February 2014 source ↗
The entire family being healthy, being on the set of Barry, and a rainbow trout on my line.
Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 13 August 2018 source ↗

More from Barack Obama

View profile →
Question What are you unwilling to optimise? Values & belief
There are some things about being president that I still have difficulty doing. … For example, faking emotion. Because I feel it is an insult to the people I'm dealing with. For me to feign outrage, for example, feels to me like I'm not taking the American people seriously. I'm absolutely positive that I'm serving the American people better if I'm maintaining my authenticity. And that's an overused word. And these days people practice being authentic. But I'm at my best when I believe what I am saying.
Recorded Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair, October 2012 issue, 11 September 2012 source ↗
Question What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? Failure & regret
I was raised by a heroic single mom, wonderful grandparents -- made incredible sacrifices for me. … But I sure wish I had had a father who was not only present, but involved. Didn't know my dad. And so my whole life, I've tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father was not for my mother and me. … I want to be a better father, a better husband, a better man.
Recorded Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, The White House (Obama administration archive), 19 May 2013 source ↗
Question In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life? Daily life
You'll see I wear only gray or blue suits. … I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make. … You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can't be going through the day distracted by trivia.
Recorded Michael Lewis, Vanity Fair, October 2012 issue, 11 September 2012 source ↗
Question Which virtue do you think people overrate? Values & belief
Security. People naturally resist change in our personal lives. … Malia, actually, was the one who brought it up because she says, 'You know, one of the things that happens is sometimes transitions are hard, and I really enjoy my life, and I like how things are going.' And I said, 'Get in the habit of being able to embrace change, and what's new. Because you don't want to live your life where, you are held back because you've gotten too comfortable, and you are afraid of what might be out there around the corner.'
Recorded Barbara Walters, ABC News 20/20, broadcast 23 December 2011, 22 December 2011 source ↗

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