1.
Ma vertu préférée (My favorite virtue)**
A moral quality you admire most (e.g., honesty, kindness). Proust answered: *"Tendreur"* (tenderness).
**Example**: Compassion, courage, humility.
---
### **2. Le principal trait de mon caractère (The chief trait of my character)**
Your defining personality trait. Proust: *"Sensibilité"* (sensitivity).
**Example**: Curiosity, resilience, optimism.
---
### **3. La qualité que je préfère chez les hommes (The quality I prefer in men)**
What you value most in men. Proust: *"La délicatesse"* (subtlety).
**Example**: Integrity, humor, empathy.
---
### **4. La qualité que je préfère chez les femmes (The quality I prefer in women)**
What you value most in women. Proust: *"La douceur féminine"* (feminine gentleness).
**Example**: Strength, grace, intelligence.
---
### **5. Mon principal défaut (My chief defect)**
Your biggest flaw. Proust: *"Ne pas savoir, ne pas pouvoir 'vouloir'"* (not knowing how to will).
**Example**: Impatience, perfectionism, self-doubt.
---
### **6. Ma principale qualité (My chief quality)**
Your greatest strength. Proust: *"Aimer être aimé"* (loving to be loved).
**Example**: Creativity, loyalty, adaptability.
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### **7. Ce que j'apprécie le plus chez mes amis (What I appreciate most in my friends)**
Valued traits in friendships. Proust: *"Leur tendresse"* (their tenderness).
**Example**: Trustworthiness, humor, supportiveness.
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### **8. Mon occupation préférée (My favorite occupation)**
How you love spending time. Proust: *"Aimer"* (loving).
**Example**: Writing, traveling, gardening.
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### **9. Mon rêve de bonheur (My idea of happiness)**
Your vision of bliss. Proust: *"Je crains qu’il ne soit pas assez élevé"* (I fear it is not lofty enough).
**Example**: Peace, love, creative fulfillment.
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### **10. Quel serait mon plus grand malheur ? (What would be my greatest misfortune?)**
Your worst fear. Proust: *"Ne jamais avoir connu ma mère ou ma grand-mère"* (never having known my
mother or grandmother).
**Example**: Loss of loved ones, unfulfilled potential.
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### **11. À part moi-même, qui voudrais-je être ? (Who would I like to be, if not myself?)**
An idealized alter ego. Proust: *"Un autre"* (another).
**Example**: A historical figure, an artist, a fictional character.
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### **12. Où aimerais-je vivre ? (Where would I like to live?)**
Your ideal place. Proust: *"Au pays de l’Idéal"* (in the land of the Ideal).
**Example**: Paris, a quiet countryside, a tropical island.
---
### **13. La couleur que je préfère (My favorite color)**
Proust: *"La beauté des couleurs dépend de leur contexte"* (the beauty of colors depends on their
context).
**Example**: Deep blue, emerald green, sunset orange.
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### **14. La fleur que j'aime (My favorite flower)**
Proust: *"La sienne"* (his own).
**Example**: Orchid, rose, lavender.
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### **15. L'oiseau que je préfère (My favorite bird)**
Proust: *"L’hirondelle"* (swallow).
**Example**: Nightingale, eagle, hummingbird.
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### **16. Mes auteurs favoris en prose (My favorite prose authors)**
Proust: *"George Sand, Augustin Thierry"*.
**Example**: Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf, Gabriel García Márquez.
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### **17. Mes poètes préférés (My favorite poets)**
Proust: *"Baudelaire, Alfred de Vigny"*.
**Example**: Rumi, Emily Dickinson, Pablo Neruda.
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### **18. Mes héros dans la fiction (My heroes in fiction)**
Fictional characters you admire. Proust: *"Hamlet"*.
**Example**: Atticus Finch, Elizabeth Bennet, Sherlock Holmes.
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### **19. Mes héroïnes favorites dans la fiction (My favorite heroines in fiction)**
Proust: *"Bérénice"* (from Racine’s play).
**Example**: Jane Eyre, Katniss Everdeen, Hermione Granger.
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### **20. Mes compositeurs préférés (My favorite composers)**
Proust: *"Beethoven, Wagner"*.
**Example**: Bach, Chopin, Nina Simone.
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### **21. Mes peintres préférés (My favorite painters)**
Proust: *"Léonard de Vinci, Rembrandt"*.
**Example**: Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Monet.
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### **22. Mes héros dans la vie réelle (My heroes in real life)**
Real-life figures you admire. Proust: *"Monsieur Darlu"* (his philosophy teacher).
**Example**: Mandela, Marie Curie, a parent.
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### **23. Mes héroïnes préférées dans la vie réelle (My favorite heroines in real life)**
Proust left this blank.
**Example**: Rosa Parks, Malala Yousafzai, Florence Nightingale.
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### **24. Mes héros dans l'histoire (My heroes in history)**
Historical figures. Proust: *"Socrate, Périclès"*.
**Example**: Gandhi, Cleopatra, Leonardo da Vinci.
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### **25. Ma nourriture et boisson préférée (My favorite food and drink)**
Proust: *"Le café au lait"* (coffee with milk).
**Example**: Pasta, chocolate, wine.
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### **26. Ce que je déteste par-dessus tout (What I hate most)**
Proust: *"Le mal qui est en moi"* (the evil within myself).
**Example**: Injustice, cruelty, dishonesty.
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### **27. Le personnage historique que je n'aime pas (The historical figure I dislike)**
Proust: *"Je n’en ai pas"* (I don’t have one).
**Example**: Tyrants, colonizers.
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### **28. Les faits historiques que je méprise le plus (The historical events I despise)**
Proust: *"L’Affaire Dreyfus"* (anti-Semitic scandal in France).
**Example**: Wars, genocides, oppression.
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### **29. Le fait militaire que j'estime le plus (The military event I admire most)**
Proust: *"Ma fuite à l’armée"* (my escape from the army).
**Example**: Peaceful resistance, strategic victories.
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### **30. La réforme que j'estime le plus (The reform I most admire)**
Proust: *"Le protestantisme"*.
**Example**: Civil rights movements, environmental reforms.
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### **31. Le don de la nature que je voudrais avoir (The natural gift I wish I had)**
Proust: *"La volonté"* (willpower).
**Example**: Musical talent, athleticism, photographic memory.
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### **32. Comment j'aimerais mourir (How I would like to die)**
Proust: *"Amélioré – et aimé"* (improved – and loved).
**Example**: Peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.
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### **33. L'état présent de mon esprit (My current state of mind)**
Proust: *"L’ennui d’avoir pensé à moi pour répondre à toutes ces questions"* (boredom at having to
think of myself to answer these questions).
**Example**: Reflective, hopeful, restless.
---
### **34. La faute qui m'inspire le plus d'indulgence (The fault I am most indulgent toward)**
Proust: *"La vie privée des gens"* (people’s private lives).
**Example**: Vanity, procrastination, gossip.
---
### **35. Ma devise (My motto)**
Proust: *"Je devrais trop craindre qu’elle ne me portât malheur"* (I should fear it would bring me bad
luck).
**Example**: *"Carpe Diem,"* *"Know thyself."*
---
### **Purpose of the Questionnaire**
It’s a tool for self-reflection, revealing subconscious priorities and values. Proust’s answers, for instance,
highlight his introspective nature, love of art, and sensitivity. Modern versions (e.g., Vanity Fair’s
celebrity interviews) use it to humanize public figures.
Would you like to try answering it yourself? 😊