Cyndi Lauper: 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.

Cyndi Lauper

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

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

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

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Lucy Beaumont

Thinking that I’m right when I’m wrong. But not only that – being able to convince other people I’m right and then finding out I’m wrong.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

Whoopi Goldberg

I can be a huge asshole, not very nice. Doesn’t happen very often, but when it happens, it’s not attractive.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2015 source ↗

Esther Freud

I can always see two points of view, which makes it hard to have a row.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 July 2026 source ↗

Alison Steadman British actress

I repeat stories (like my mum used to).

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2009 source ↗

More from Cyndi Lauper

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

Long walks with my husband. Being with my family. Making music, and writing when songs just fall together. And maybe a cannoli. Just one.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 3 April 2020 source ↗

Question What thought won't let you sleep? Daily life

My son. He is a teenager.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 April 2014 source ↗

Question What most recently moved you to tears? Identity & self

At a function for the True Colors Fund, where formerly homeless gay and transgender kids were telling their stories. It was heartbreaking.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 April 2014 source ↗

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

Two-faced phony-baloneys.

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

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

A world where greed rules.

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

Question Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them? Values & belief

Aside from my mom, my husband, and my mother-in-law, Gloria Steinem, Dorothy Pitman Hughes, and RBG.

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

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