Know Thyself! Use the Proust Questionnaire

During the 19th century, French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust–the author of “Remembrance of Things Past”–popularized a parlor game which involved filling out a questionnaire meant to reveal a person’s true nature. Since then, thousands of people have answered this questionnaire.

For many years the magazine Vanity Fair published the so-called Proust Questionnaire at the end of every issue, each time filled out by a different celebrity. In fact, the magazine’s editor gathered the best ones in a book titled, “Vanity Fair’s Proust Questionnaire: 101 Luminaries Ponder Love, Death, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life”.

Follow in the footsteps of Marcel Proust, Bette Midler, Lauren Bacall, Norman Mailer, Martin Scorsese, Aretha Franklin, and many others (including President Obama and the First Lady) by filling out the Proust Questionnaire.

Here it is (I found the questionnaire on the blog Fierce Authenticity):

• What is your idea of perfect happiness?

• What is your greatest fear?

• Which historical figure do you most identify with?

• Which living person do you most admire?

• What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

• What is the trait you most deplore in others?

• What is your greatest extravagance?

• What is your favorite journey?

• What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

• On what occasion do you lie?

• What do you dislike the most about your appearance?

• Which living person do you most despise?

• Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

• What is your greatest regret?

• What or who is the greatest love of your life?

• When and where were you happiest?

• Which talent would you most like to have?

• What is your current state of mind?

• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

• If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?

• What do you consider your greatest achievement?

• If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

• What is your most treasured possession?

• What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

• Where would you like to live?

• What is your favorite occupation?

• What is your most marked characteristic?

• What is the quality you most like in a man?

• What is the quality you most like in a woman?

• What do you most value in your friends?

• Who are your favorite writers?

• Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

• Who are your heroes in real life?

• What are your favorite names?

• What is it that you most dislike?

• How would you like to die?

• What is your favorite motto?

And here’s a question from me: What’s on your bucket list?

Related Posts:

1. 99 Powerful Questions to Ask to Turbocharge Your Life
2. How to Write a Personal Manifesto
3. 101 Life Lessons – A Little Manual For Life
4. 119 Journal Prompts for Your Journal Jar