The question
What do you fear most?Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
The exact prompt is fixed in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and independently sustained in The Guardian's The Q&A over multiple decades.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Losing a loved one.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, May 2024 source ↗
I’m not fond of snakes.
I become very anxious if I think I’ve hurt someone.
Many readers have informed me that it is a tragic and dreary business to go into death without faith. I don’t feel that way. “Faith” is neutral. All depends on what is believed in. I have no desire to live forever. The concept frightens me. I am 69, have had cancer, will die sooner than most of those reading this. That is in the nature of things.
Living with severe chronic pain, or forgetting the name of the person I’m interviewing.
When I’m feeling lazy and I sleep in too much.
My kids are in the house. I’ve been gardening in my vegetable garden. I have absolutely zero obligations or calls to return. Now I’m fixing dinner with music playing and having a glass of wine.
Cruelty, and also general rudeness and unkindness. I’ve always told my children: Don’t ever find entertainment in someone else’s discomfort.
My wedding day, and when my children were first placed in my arms.
Kindness and laughter. If someone makes me laugh, I’m halfway in love.
Jane Goodall. I got the chance to meet her a few years ago, and it was the thrill of a lifetime. When I was little, I wanted to be her. I thought she had the coolest life in the world.
Gloria Steinem, Danielle Steel, Hans Zimmer, Scott Mills, Tom Lubbock, Daphne Guinness
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