Proust Questionnaire

This is the version of the famous set of interview questions that appears at the back of Vanity Fair every month. It was fun to think through.

Proust Questionnaire (Vanity Fair Version)

Lynn's Answers

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Sitting at a restaurant in a great city with my siblings and husband, talking about the world and life, and then someone says something witty and we all laugh at the same time, in the same way.

What is your greatest fear?
That the great achievements of liberal Western civilization will be undone by a reactionary barbarism.

What historical figure do you most identify with?
A medieval serf.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Indiscretion.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Meanness.

What is your greatest extravagance?
My house.

What is your favorite journey?
A walk or drive through beautiful countryside.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Purity.

What is your greatest regret?
Being a difficult child.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
The truth.

When and where were you happiest?
As a child at my grandparents’ house in Southern Maryland, at a bonfire on the beach of the Potomac River.

What is your current state of mind?
Grateful.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I’d have lots and lots more energy.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
We tend to be closed up emotionally, so some sort of openness.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Endurance through despair.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
Unfortunately, since my current life is probably within the top 1% of happiness of all the lives ever lived on Planet Earth (as are most lives of middle-class Americans), I can only imagine I’d have it rougher next time round.

What is your most treasured possession?
A drawing Jay made of me on the birthday square of my calendar one year.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Physical pain and hopelessness.

Where would you like to live?
The English countryside.

What is your favorite occupation?
Decision-maker.

What is your most marked characteristic?
My friends, family, and enemies would have to tell you.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Compassion.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Compassion.

What do you most value in your friends?
Curiosity.

Who are your favorite writers?
Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen.

What is it that you most dislike?
A refusal to imagine the experiences of others.

How would you like to die?
Quickly.

What is your motto?
The Serenity Prayer.

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