The Proust Questionnaire

The Proust Questionnaire is a series of questions that gained fame through the French writer Marcel Proust. While he didn’t create it, he became well-known for his responses. Proust is best remembered for his monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time), published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927—a literary journey I highly recommend if you haven’t yet explored it!

Two sets of Proust’s answers to these “confession album” questions have survived. The first, from 1885-1886, is from an English album, though Proust answered in French. The second, from 1891-1892, comes from a French album titled Les confidences de salon (Drawing Room Confessions), featuring translated and modified questions. I decided to answer the first set of questions, originally in English.

Proust believed these questions could reveal a person’s true nature. I hope my responses offer you a little insight into mine :)!

  1. Your favorite virtue: Imagination.
  2. Your favorite qualities in a man: Kindness, intelligence, honesty, loyalty.
  3. Your favorite qualities in a woman: The same as for men.
  4. Your favorite occupation: Seeking beauty and harmony in the world around us. Being in awe.
  5. Your chief characteristic: Kindness.
  6. Your idea of happiness: Living in Paris with my partner and my cat, surrounded by friends and family.
  7. Your idea of misery: Losing hope.
  8. Your favorite color and flower: Royal blue, jasmine.
  9. If not yourself, who would you be: My cat, Rio.
  10. Where would you like to live: Paris.
  11. Your favorite prose authors: Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Mona Chollet, Marcel Proust.
  12. Your favorite poets: Charles Baudelaire, Guillaume Apollinaire, Jacques Brel.
  13. Your favorite painters and composers: painters Rembrandt, Vermeer, Pierre-Joseph Redouté; composers Hans Zimmer, Max Richter, Ludovico Einaudi.
  14. Your favorite heroes in real life: I don’t know.
  15. Your favorite heroines in real life: Queen Elizabeth II, Simone Veil, Colette.
  16. Your favorite heroes in fiction: Bruce Wayne, Matt Murdock.
  17. Your favorite heroines in fiction: Adèle Blanc-Sec, Beth Harmon, Wednesday Addams, Arya Stark.
  18. Your favorite food and drink: Homemade fries, Moroccan mint tea.
  19. Your favorite names: Old-fashioned or forgotten French names like Marcel, Emile, Albert, Jules, Edmond, Arsène, Colette, Claudine, etc.
  20. Your pet aversion: Dishonesty.
  21. What characters in history do you most dislike: There are far too many.
  22. What is your present state of mind? Passionate, inspired, and grateful.
  23. For what fault do you have the most tolerance? Ignorance.
  24. Your favorite motto: I don’t have one; I’d be too afraid I couldn’t live up to it ;).

xo, Léonce Chenal.