My Proust Questionnaire
The Proust Questionnaire
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.
Developing new opinions after a heated analytical discussion.
2. What is your greatest fear?
A lack of existence.
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Procrastination.
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
I have two - Misplaced emotional investment and unfounded belief.
5. Which living person do you most admire?
Sam Rockwell and sundries of philosophers.
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
Falling in love with a character on screen or in a book.
7. What is your current state of mind?
Introspective. I mean, I'm taking a fucking Proust Questionnaire.
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Chocolate.
9. On what occasion do you lie?
When I'm laying on the charm. So, often.
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My hair (or lack there of).
11. Which living person do you most despise?
Televangelists.
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
Being reasonable enough to change an idea that he's invested in.
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
It sounds cliche but humor, it's hard to find a woman who is funny/can take a joke.
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Jesus" - it doesn't really mean anything despite having a use in the language.
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Poetry. It taught me how to love everything else.
16. When and where were you happiest?
Attending LAN parties with my brother and father.
17. Which talent would you most like to have?
Concert pianist.
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would write more.
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My first year of teaching 8th graders.
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Another blank slate human would be nice.
21. Where would you most like to live?
Downtown Chicago.
22. What is your most treasured possession?
My copy of "The Trial and Death of Socrates"
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The feeling that overcomes a person who cannot reconcile their beliefs
with what is happening around them because their faith blinds them.
24. What is your favorite occupation?
Teaching.
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
Charisma.
26. What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty.
27. Who are your favorite writers?
Sartre, Emerson, Sam Harris, Orwell, Charles Simic, Charles Bukowski, Theodore Roethke, Whitman
28. Who is your hero of fiction?
Spiderman.
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Friedrich Nietzsche
30. Who are your heroes in real life?
Richard Dawkins
31. What are your favorite names?
Olive
32. What is it that you most dislike?
A person's sense of superiority.
33. What is your greatest regret?
Blacking out on my 21st birthday. I missed out on some consciousness and often wonder why people brag about it.
34. How would you like to die?
Awake,
35. What is your motto?
Be reasonable and dont be afraid to change.
Take your own here: http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/archive/proust_questionnaire
4 Comments
If I was a philoso-farmer, every morning I'd stand outside the coop and in a booming voice, say, "AT LAST THE CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO PROUST!"
1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being in love.
2. What is your greatest fear?
Dying (not death, because by then I'll be dead).
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Jealousy.
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Dishonesty or abuse.
5. Which living person do you most admire?
Daniel Dennett
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
I don't think I really have any great extravagance. Maybe my computer?
7. What is your current state of mind?
Relaxed and thoughtful.
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Altruism and faith.
9. On what occasion do you lie?
Rarely, but if my lie can save a lot of grief, by avoiding an unnecessary confrontation about something stupid, I might.
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My gut.
11. Which living person do you most despise?
Hmm, so hard to choose: Kent Hovind, Kenn Hamm (all those creationist dumbfucks), and televangelists. And Rasch187.
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
Honesty, humor, friendship, intellect.
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Awesome beewbage. Heh. Nah, humor, honesty, straight-forwardness, intellect, friendship.. I look for the same qualities in both guys and girls, to be honest.
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Fantastic", "super", "In a minute"
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
For now, music.
16. When and where were you happiest?
I don't know. Maybe when I was in Ireland in 2002 and was entangled with a girl from my high school, or one summer in 2003 I think, where we were a bunch of people in a summer house where I played guitar and we all sang and stuff. I liked that.
17. Which talent would you most like to have?
Better song-writing skills.
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Physically, I'd trim up. (Already on it)
More cosmically, I'd like to be able to have a better overview of a situation during, instead of after it happens.
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My education, my music skills and the website I ran in 2004-2007, which I was very prolific on. (www.edb-tidende.dk it's dead in the water now though)
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
I would come back as a young version of myself and try to change things up, see what would happen if I made different choices.
21. Where would you most like to live?
With a loved one. Don't really care where.
22. What is your most treasured possession?
My mind. Of things outside myself, then I think the things I can't replace. The data on my computer, pictures, documents etc. I think. All other "possessions" can be replaced. They're just things. I would say friendships, but that's hardly a possession.
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Depression, then everything sucks. Been there, no fun.
24. What is your favorite occupation?
Playing music, engaging in reasonable discussions, masturbation. (at the same time)
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
I say my mind. I'm a pretty straight-forward, no-nonsense kinda guy. Other than that, I don't know. Other people are better judges of that than me.
26. What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty and humor.
27. Who are your favorite writers?
Frank Herbert, Neal Stephenson, William King, Scott McGough.
28. Who is your hero of fiction?
Randy Marsh. Heh, or Rorsharch and Dr. Manhattan. Randy epitomizes the human condition, weak, narrow sighted and everything. Rosharch represents a view of the world in black and white, which I like the concept of; and Dr. Manhattan represents the way the world is and he is basically intellect personified, which I also like.
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
This requires me to know a lot of history. I don't, because I don't care much about it. I identify with me, because I am me, no one else.
30. Who are your heroes in real life?
The four horsemen, Dawkins, Dennett, Harris and Hitchens.
31. What are your favorite names?
Lisa, Cecilia, Michael, Jason, off the top of my head.
32. What is it that you most dislike?
People lying to me or in general who are dicks to me. I have no interest in these people.
33. What is your greatest regret?
Two things, I think. Not doing anything about the girl I had a serious crush on for most of my elementary school until high school; and not realizing that Computer Science was not for me earlier, instead of fucking around there for two years.
34. How would you like to die?
I'd rather not.
35. What is your motto?
"Don't be a dick" is something I can stand by.
nahh redacted
1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being in a small but livable house somewhere in the prince edward islands surrounded by my books and movies.
2. What is your greatest fear?
Ceaseless physical pain.
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My intractable need to lie to people.
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Egotism.
5. Which living person do you most admire?
Maybe a journalist. Or an interviewer like Neal Conan from "Talk of the Nation" or a blogger like Andrew Sullivan. But i dont know. Maybe a filmmaker like Takeshi Kitano? Thats tough. Most of the figures I truly truly admire are dead. Lol
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
My smoking. Expecially in NY state. Its like 8 dollars a pack.
7. What is your current state of mind?
Somewhat at peace. Gettin' excited to go out for beers with my new colleagues.
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Confidence--it freezes personalities in place and I am sick of waiting for the ice to thaw.
9. On what occasion do you lie?
On many. Mostly when I want to disguise who I really am, which may be lost altogether.
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
The grey hairs on my beard.
11. Which living person do you most despise?
Dick Cheney would have to be up there.
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
Humility, warmth, intelligence, strong and independent.
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Humility, warmth, intelligence, strong and independent.
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Fuck.
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
A woman who no longer causes me emotional pain but whom I still love.
16. When and where were you happiest?
Its hard to remember. I think two winters ago when I was living in Boston and still making and watching movies, and drinking, and with good people.
17. Which talent would you most like to have?
Piano.
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Not be so nervous all the time.
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Getting into a first rate PhD program.
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Maybe something like a mountain goat.
21. Where would you most like to live?
Iceland or Montreal both sound great to me.
22. What is your most treasured possession?
I'll try and avoid platitudes like "my brain" and just say my laptop.
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being in any way helplessly beholden to any one person or group of people. The police, or a shitty relationship, for instance.
24. What is your favorite occupation?
Film programmer.
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
My beard
26. What do you most value in your friends?
Understanding.
27. Who are your favorite writers?
Borges.
28. Who is your hero of fiction?
Werther (from the Goethe novella)
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Shit. I have no idea.
30. Who are your heroes in real life?
A friend of mine.
31. What are your favorite names?
Cathleen. Huston.
32. What is it that you most dislike?
Uptight, mean fucks.
33. What is your greatest regret?
Drinking nearly a whole year away.
34. How would you like to die?
Suicide. When its rationally 'time'
35. What is your motto?
Don't take me or yourself too seriously.
Discuss...
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