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

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.

Lena Dunham

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Unmade bed surrounded by books, writing utensils, and the dog; a plate of demolished toast with butter on my chest; loved ones puttering not too close but not too far.

The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 10 September 2014 source ↗

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James Taylor

Happiness is going to come and go, but to have a chance at intermittent happiness you need to be free from fear. In our culture, in our day, we can lose sight of what a rare gift that is: to live free from fear

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 22 May 2015 source ↗

Bill Maher

Being in love while organizing my closet.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 May 2010 source ↗

Little Richard

Being at peace with God.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 25 November 2001 source ↗

Michael Cunningham

The very idea of perfect happiness. Who wouldn’t be happy about the proposition that happiness can be perfect?

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 22 November 2023 source ↗

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Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

To lose the ability to do my work.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2014 source ↗

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

My uncle, Edward Wood Dunham. He has Parkinson’s disease and faces every day with bravery, humor, and a gin-and-tonic.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2014 source ↗

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

Casual cruelty; the wearing of essential oils.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2014 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

An “elastic” sense of time (fancy way of saying I am late a lot).

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2014 source ↗

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