First of all, to be in love. The second way of being very happy is to be able to get the best out of yourself, whatever it is.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
What do you value most in your friends?
Relationships
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
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.
To sit by a clear river on a warm day in early July with the smell of cut grass in the air.
The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 September 2010 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 158 →
Zadie Smith
Novelist and essayist
Reading quietly, in high grass, among loved ones (who are also quietly reading). Followed by a boozy lunch.
Patrick Stewart
Actor
Walking in my garden in England with my wife.
Warm chocolate cake, a gorgeous fire, and Idris Elba. Also, world peace.
More from Helen Mirren
View profile →Serially telling endless boring jokes and sexism and racism and homophobia (they often go together).
Their ability to open a bottle of wine.
Sister Alice Marie Quinn, who runs St. Vincent Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles.
I remember thinking, when I was in my early 30s, that this is the best age to be, and I still believe your 30s are a wonderful time. But I think I am pretty happy now.
Laziness and procrastination.
More on identity & self
- What is your greatest fear? 256 answers
- Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? 243 answers
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? 195 answers
- What most recently made you cry? 193 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 111 answers
- What are you most proud of? 103 answers
Also answered this
Judy Blume, Megan Rapinoe, Eugene Levy, John Lithgow, Liza Minnelli, Kazuo Ishiguro
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- All identity & self questions
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