Jeff Aranda
The Proust Questionnaire
BY
Jeff Aranda
October 2020
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The Proust Questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature. Here is the basic Proust Questionnaire.
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1. What is your idea of perfect happiness? An evening sunset, with the light that floods into my home, a glass of
soda water with a splash of Simply Made lemonade and Folklore
playing in the background.
2. What is your greatest fear? Being one dimensional.
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Self Doubt
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Indifference
5. Which living person do you most admire? My older sister.
6. What is your greatest extravagance? My John Fluevog shoes (they were a birthday gift, but still very
extravagant when you consider I buy my clothes at Target)
7. What is your current state of mind? Peaceful
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Temperance
9. On what occasion do you lie? When I do not want to devastate someone with the truth.
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance? Nothing.
11. Which living person do you most despise? People with a fixed way of thinking. “Despise” is a bit harsh,
though.
12. What is the quality you most like in a man? Lightheartedness
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman? A slightly gross sense of humor.
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “I am well aware…”
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life? Myself.
16. When and where were you happiest? At this moment.
17. Which talent would you most like to have? The ability to connect with people on a fundamental level.
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would love to be more consistent with my
book reading.
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement? Being here.
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? I will come back as a cat!
21. Where would you most like to live? In a welcoming place.
22. What is your most treasured possession? My notebooks. Along with my camera.
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Indifference.
24. What is your favorite occupation? You have just seen it on the previous pages.
25. What is your most marked characteristic? Perhaps my eyebrows.
26. What do you most value in your friends? Their strength.
27. Who are your favorite writers? Johnathan Swift, Jen Sincero
28. Who is your hero of fiction? Superman – the man is equal parts stoic and vulnerable.
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with? Nobody that I feel a strong connection to.
30. Who are your heroes in real life? The people who stick around for people who are going through hell.
31. What are your favorite names? Sean, Clarissa, Marco
32. What is it that you most dislike? Sometimes feeling tired.
33. What is your greatest regret? None. Regret is a word people who have never taken a chance use.
34. How would you like to die? With a peaceful sense of accomplishment… in some grandiose accident.
35. What is your motto? Onward! Upward!
