Proust questionnaire
July 9, 2006 by thinking girl
I found these questions over at The Girl With Moxie’s blog. I have seen these questions over the years several times, so I thought, what the hey?What is your idea of perfect happiness?
To love and be loved in return.
What is your greatest fear?
That my life will pass without meaning.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Ghandi, who believed he could.
Which living person do you most admire?
Nelson Mandela. Stephen Lewis. My best friend Angel.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Self-doubt, and arrogance in always wanting to be right.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Probably my car. And shoes. And as much chocolate as I can possibly get.
What is your favorite journey?
The one I haven’t yet taken, to France and Italy, to Hawaii, to Egypt, to Greece, to Kenya.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Monetary success. It isn’t really a virtue, but those who have it certainly think it is.
On what occasion do you lie?
When I think the truth will hurt.
Which living person do you most despise?
I try my best not to do so, but I would have to say George Bush.
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My extra layer of padding around the middle.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“I can’t” - once is too many times.
What is your greatest regret?
I usually regret allowing people to take advantage of me, but kindness and generosity is in my nature, and I can’t really consider it a fault - maybe a tragic flaw. I regret any time I have hurt someone.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Music. My friends. Knowledge. My dreams.
When and where were you happiest?
In New York, 1994 and 2004. In Toronto 2000. Right here, right now.
Which talent would you most like to have?
I would that I were a great artist, musician, painter.
What is your current state of mind?
Contemplative.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My penchant for self-criticism and self-doubt.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
I would have brothers and sisters.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Going back to university after a 10 year absence and becoming an A student. Learning to be a better person. Learning to be comfortable with myself. Moving on.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A cat. They have the high life! Or maybe a great work of art, so I could bring joy to millions of people.
What is your most treasured possession?
It was my grandmother’s ring, but it was stolen about 4 years ago and never recovered. I was devastated.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The loss of a loved one, and all the things you never said, never did.
Where would you like to live?
New York. Montreal. Paris. Hawaii. Rome. Tuscany.
What is your most marked characteristic?
A boyfriend once said it was my charisma. I think it is my intellect and my integrity.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Integrity, honesty, fairness, passion, and kindness.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
The same. Why should it be different?
What do you value most in your friends?
In addition to the above, loyalty, willingness to forgive, and an open heart.
Who are your favorite writers?
Shakespeare, Jane Austin, John Irving, Zora Neale Hurston.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Atreyu from the Neverending Story. Peter Pan. Frodo. Hamlet. Elizabeth Barrett. Jane Eyre. Janie Crawford
Who are your heroes in real life?
Ghandi. Martin Luther King Jr. Nelson Mandela. Terry Fox. Eleanor Roosevelt. Anyone who has a dream and pursues it unfailingly.
What is it that you most dislike?
Hatred. War. Intolerance. Ignorance.
How would you like to die?
When I am very old, and I have done all I wish to do, in my sleep during a beautiful dream.
What is your motto?
I think I can, I think I can…
I like that…
::smile:::
Jane Eyre?
I actually would answer similar things for some of these, especially the “lowest depth of misery” (I have yet to feel anything worst) and the “favourite journey”. And, of course, the second place you would like to live in…
I think I’ll have a go at those questions too.
When I am very old, and I have done all I wish to do, in my sleep during a beautiful dream…”
I do hope you make it to the closing credits of your dream.
My luck, I’ll die at the start of the love scene.
well, as far as I can see, it sounds just like you.
Thanks for reading/listening and responding! I hope the Proust Questionnaire will be the new “get to know your friends” e-mail of the summer!
I see you’ve corrected “Eyre” to “Austen” in the favourite author
[or did I misread first time around?]
I’m more of a Wuthering Heights person (there’s something about the story of a bunch of sociopaths living on top of a hill…
I trie3d my best to read Wuthering Heights when I was in grade 10. I absolutely despised it. It was the first book I didn’t finish once I’d start. The second was the god-awful English Patient, the worst book of the 20th Century. Both times, I felt like I was drowning, or wading through a field of snow up to my hips. It was exhausting.
I’d meant to put Jane Eyre in the heros of fiction category, actually, along with Janie Crawford and I’m just now finishing Pride and Prejudice, so Austen was meant for fave authors.
Never tried The English Patient. Didn’t see the movie either; never really appealed to me. You might not believe that, but I’m actually rereading Heights…
My worst case of an unfinished book is Eco’s The Island of the Day Before. Ever read it? I loved The Name of the Rose, found his second novel (Foucault’s Pendulum) tolerable (although part of it was scavenged, verbatim, from his own essays, which made it somewhat self-indulgent). Tried this one three times. It’s just one long, seemingly pointless (can’t tell, didn’t got to the end) look-at-what-I-know. It is actually the only book, to my knowledge, that my mother, who can get through any book, has never been able to finish. It has become a sort of benchmark in my family.
Loved Pride and Prejudice, the second time around (first time I had to read it, so it was less enjoyable). It gets better once you know the story and you can pay more attention to the details and the dialogs.
Austen has become kind of a “security blanket” for a friend of mine. She rereads her novels when she’s not feeling too good. There’s something soothing to going back to hose characters, and there’s always something new to grasp.