Proust’s Questionnaires

Note that I have removed or adjusted some questions as I found gendering uneccessary (such as different questions regarding 'heroes' and 'heroines'). Otherwise, I have taken the questions from here.

first questionnaire

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

A mire I do not wish to tread.

Where would you like to live?

Imladris, naturally.

What is your ideal of human happiness?

Inhuman happiness.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

Those which are least voluntary.

Who are your favourite heroes of fiction?

S'chn T'gai Spock.

Who are your favourite characters in history?

Diogenes of Sinope.

Your favourite painter?

Blair Leighton.

Your favourite musician?

Gaelynn Lea.

The quality you most admire in a being?

Dedication to a just cause.

Your favourite virtue?

A kindness-diligence combination.

Your favourite occupation?

Puttering around in the Web.

What would you have liked to be?

If I were Alexander, I would also like to be Diogenes.

second questionnaire

Your most marked characteristic?

My haecceity.

What do you most value in your friends?

That they are my friends.

What is your principle defect?

A very great weight lying upon me.

What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?

To have everything taken away from one, and to never be listened to about this.

What would you like to be?

That which I am, with less encumberment.

What is your favorite color?

Forest green.

What is your favorite flower?

I have a fondness for bluebells.

What is your favorite bird?

One of the order corvidae.

Who are your favorite prose writers?

Umberto Eco; J.R.R. Tolkien.

Who are your favorite poets?

Hanif Abdurraqib; Mary Oliver; Rainer Maria Rilke; William Shakespeare; Richard Siken; Ocean Vuong. I have also a fondness for Wordsworth.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Those whose names are here omitted for privacy, both theirs and mine.

Who are your favorite heroes of history?

Diogenes of Sinope.

What are your favorite names?

Diogenes of Sinope; Hans Mauritz Leutzinger.

What is it you most dislike?

Wilful ignorance when used as malice.

What historical figures do you most despise?

Other than the most obvious, perhaps Ivar Lovaas.

What event in military history do you most admire?

Peacemaking.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?

I know not.

How would you like to die?

Old and loved.

What is your present state of mind?

This must go unanswered.

What is your motto?

Insomuch as I have one, perhaps
Trust me, I have things to say.