Identity & self

What are you most proud of?

109 answers answered between 1930 and 2026 one of 5 in 73 Questions

Originally asked

Vogue, to one guest at a time, on camera, 73 Questions

Vogue's 73 Questions repeatedly asks respondents to select the work, relationship, or achievement that makes them proudest.

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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Winston Churchill Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1940–1945 and 1951–1955; Member of Parliament 1900–1964
When I think of the fate of poor old women, so many of whom have no one to look after them and nothing to live on at the end of their lives, I am glad to have had a hand in all that structure of pensions and insurance which no other country can rival and which is especially a help to them.
Recorded Chapter of his autobiography, written at Chartwell in 1930, Winston S. Churchill, My Early Life (Thornton Butterworth, 1930), Project Gutenberg Canada, October 1930 source ↗
Ralph Nader Lawyer and consumer advocate; author of Unsafe at Any Speed
I think three things. One is the great advances in auto safety. I mean, there are tens of thousands of people being saved every year because cars are safer, and millions of people over a decade, injuries prevented. I think that’s a good example of the need to make technology more humane. We may benefit from a lot of technologies, but they exact a cost. Emphysema, cancer, soil contamination, contaminated water, death and injury on the highway. We’ve got to put more effort on making them more humane.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Washington, D.C., 16 February 1991 source ↗
Norman Schwarzkopf United States Army general; commander of coalition forces in the 1991 Gulf War
A man does not get to write his own epitaph. But if I were to write mine it would say the following: He loved his family, and he loved his troops, and they loved him — period.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Las Vegas, Nevada, 26 June 1992 source ↗
David Trimble First Minister of Northern Ireland 1998–2002; leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
One does have to point to the fact that we did achieve an agreement, that we had that agreement endorsed by a majority of the people of Northern Ireland; that despite very considerable political difficulties since then, we have actually managed to implement the greater part of the political agenda of that agreement, and we have restored local parliamentary institutions in Northern Ireland, that we have a local administration in place which is working, maybe not working ideally, but is still actually there. Those are the significant political developments that one’s had a hand in and obviously, one would point to that as being the things that one looks back at with most satisfaction, but I realize that it’s still work in progress.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Dublin, Ireland, 8 June 2002 source ↗
Aaron Ciechanover Biologist and physician; Nobel laureate in chemistry for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation
I cannot tell you even. I have to ask my son and my wife that were with me in the room because I came to say ”hello,” that I’m leaving. And, I was caught in total surprise. It’s wonderful. What can I tell you? Obviously, it’s wonderful. That’s the climax that every scientist can ever dream of. I will not deny that I am proud for me, for this science, for the state of Israel, for my family, for everybody.
Recorded Joanna Rose, Telephone interview following the announcement of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, The Nobel Prize, 6 October 2004 source ↗
Haruki Murakami Novelist, short-story writer and translator
Yes. I didn't want to be a writer, but I became one. And now I have many readers, in many countries. I think that's a miracle. So I think I have to be humble regarding this ability. I'm proud of it and I enjoy it, and it is strange to say it this way, but I respect it.
Recorded Stephen Phelan, Face-to-face interview, first published in the Sunday Herald, The Sunday Herald, January 2005 source ↗
Bill Gates Co-founder of Microsoft; co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Microsoft was at the center of the personal computer revolution, and particularly the creation of a software market where you went out to lots of companies, and encouraged them to write software for different applications, mundane applications, wild applications. That idea that you would encourage people to be creative, and build software, and there would be a whole industry around that.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Seattle, Washington, 17 March 2010 source ↗
Andre Geim Condensed matter physicist; Nobel laureate in Physics, 2010
OK, but speaking seriously, I’m actually quite proud of my IgNobel Prize – not because of IgNobel Prize – it’s a more subtle association. Essentially, yeah, IgNobel Prize is given for something which forces people to smile. ... with IgNobel Prize they ask you a few weeks in advance whether you are ready to accept this prize or not. So we considered hard and, at the end, we had courage to accept this IgNobel Prize, yeah. So, I’m proud that I had enough courage to do that and I do not regret accepting it.
Recorded Adam Smith, Telephone interview following the announcement of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics, The Nobel Prize, 5 October 2010 source ↗
Shinya Yamanaka Stem cell biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 2012
I strongly feel that this is, that I am able to receive this award because of John Gurdon and also many other researchers in the field. This field has a long history, starting with John Gurdon. So I feel very lucky. I may have played some important role in this long history, but it was not myself who initiated this field. So that’s my feeling right now.
Recorded Adam Smith, Telephone interview recorded shortly after the prize announcement, October 2012, Nobel Prize Outreach, 1 October 2012 source ↗
Lars Ulrich Danish drummer; co-founder of Metallica
The one thing I’ll always hold my head up high about is that 32 years later, it’s been quite a ride – it’s been a pretty pure ride, a pretty honest ride, a pretty straight ride – we haven’t done things for ulterior motives or tried to do things for commercial gains or for this or for that, so I feel pretty proud of all of it.
Recorded The Talks interview, 21 November 2013 source ↗
Alejandro González Iñárritu Mexican film director; winner of Academy Awards for Birdman and The Revenant
I don’t regret having done it at all. I think everything that I went through was worth it. I am very proud. But I would not do it again.
Recorded The Talks interview, 27 January 2016 source ↗
Barack Obama 44th President of the United States, 2009–2017; United States Senator from Illinois 2005–2008
What makes me proudest about them is that they also don't get cynical about it. They have not assumed because their side didn't win, or because some of the values that they care about don't seem as if they were vindicated, that automatically America has somehow rejected them or rejected their values.
Recorded Christi Parsons, James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, the White House, The White House (Obama administration archive), 18 January 2017 source ↗
Jennifer Doudna Biochemist; Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 2020
Oh, hands down, I’m most proud of the people that I’ve trained and the people that have come from my work — I mean from my lab. I think that when I look at these younger people who are now working in their own right, running research laboratories, doing great work, teaching their students, making new discoveries, that’s what I’m proudest of. That legacy of science that stemmed from — originally — just me opening up my shop at Yale University back in 1994.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, Berkeley, California, 17 May 2019 source ↗
Olga Tokarczuk Novelist and essayist; Nobel laureate in literature
Yeah, I’m very happy. Of course I’m very happy, and I am proud that I am with Peter Handke , and that we, both of us, we are from central Europe. It’s really very meaningful for me, this Nobel Prize is going to central Europe. I’m really, really very proud.
Recorded Adam Smith, Telephone interview following the announcement of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, The Nobel Prize, 10 October 2019 source ↗
Bong Joon-ho Film director and screenwriter
I wanted to create a very delicate and detailed film where you would feel like you could even smell every single character.
Recorded The Talks interview, 12 February 2020 source ↗
Wanjira Mathai Kenyan environmental leader; chair of the Wangari Maathai Foundation
I would like to believe that I have played a role in highlighting the crucial role that youth can play in the transformation of Africa. I would also like to believe that I have played a role in highlighting the central importance of landscape restoration in the continent’s transformation and how we address the climate crisis. I have continued to be a climate action champion, especially climate adaptation.
Recorded Raphael Obonyo, Interview for Africa Renewal, Africa Renewal (United Nations), March 2021 source ↗
Javier Zanetti Argentine former footballer; long-serving Inter Milan captain and now the club's vice-president
Yes, I do, and I like to be seen by fans like this. Being a legend for my fans and my family is something I can be proud of, as I had the opportunity to play in World Cups myself, so I knew what the squad were feeling. I have the third highest appearances for Argentina, for whom many very talented footballers have played, so it’s an honour. To me, representing my home country anywhere in the world has been the best feeling.
Recorded SoccerBible interview, 9 June 2023 source ↗
Sarina Wiegman Dutch football manager; head coach of the England women's national team
I really love the medals but what I’m proud of most, absolutely most, is that now young girls have perspective, young girls can play football and young girls can wear shirts [with players’ names on],
Recorded Suzanne Wrack, Interview on the Sunshine Coast, Australia, before the 2023 Women's World Cup, The Guardian, 14 July 2023 source ↗
Shirley Manson Scottish singer and songwriter; lead vocalist of Garbage
It was such a beautiful summer’s night and I had pink hair and my band was doing really well and my mum was there, my mum was still alive. It was very magical for me and to get the honour of my city, to be blessed by their respect, it was delicious.
Recorded Niall Doherty, Louder feature interview, Louder (Classic Rock), 23 June 2024 source ↗
Mellody Hobson Co-chief executive and president of Ariel Investments
I literally said to them - all of our faces were on the - in the boxes on Zoom. And I welled up. And I said, oh my God, this is my dream. This is what I want - I've wanted to see my whole life of working at Ariel and all the things we've built, and making sure we all have a shot at this - narrowing this wealth gap, and putting our stamp on the industry and society.
Recorded Kathleen J. McInnis, Smart Women, Smart Power podcast, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 28 August 2024 source ↗

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