🌿 Beautiful Questions: Proust Edition
In the late 19th century, the great Marcel Proust responded to a simple but profound questionnaire made up of introspective prompts designed to reveal a person’s deepest values, desires, and traits. Though Proust didn’t create the questions himself, his thoughtful responses made the exercise famous, and ever since, the “Proust Questionnaire” has been used as a tool for self-reflection, inspiring countless variations over the years.
At its core, the Proust Questionnaire is an exploration of the self. Who are you, really? What do you love? What do you fear? What remains constant, and what is shaped by time? These are the kinds of questions that, when asked at different points in life, can illuminate the important ways we change and the many ways we stay the same.
The forty questions below build on that tradition. Some are drawn from Proust’s original set, others I've gathered over the years from conversations, books, and moments of personal reflection. They are designed to be asked not just once, but repeatedly. Every decade of your life. Because if a single moment of introspection can be revealing, a lifetime of it can be transformative.
Every ten years, these questions serve as a mirror. They help you see where you’ve been, who you’ve become, and what still lies ahead. They force you to examine your evolving priorities, confront old patterns, and redefine what truly matters. The answers will shift with time — some subtly, others dramatically — but the act of asking remains invaluable.
So take a moment. Sit with these questions. Ask them now, and ask them again ten years from now. The person you are today and the person you are always becoming just might surprise you.
40 Questions to Ask Yourself Every Decade
#1 What is your motto?
#2 Who is your best friend?
#3 What makes you hopeful?
#4 How would you like to die?
#5 What is your greatest fear?
#6 Who is your hero of fiction?
#7 What is your greatest regret?
#8 On what occasion do you lie?
#9 Where would you most like to live?
#10 What is your greatest extravagance?
#11 When and where were you happiest?
#12 What was your greatest waste of time?
#13 What is your idea of perfect happiness?
#14 What do you most value in your friends?
#15 What is the quality you most like in men?
#16 What is your most treasured possession?
#17 What is your most marked characteristic?
#18 Which living person do you most admire?
#19 Which talent would you most like to have?
#20 What do you find painful but worth doing?
#21 Why do you get out of bed in the morning?
#22 What is the quality you most like in women?
#23 What is the trait you most deplore in others?
#24 Who or what is the greatest love of your life?
#25 What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
#26 What would you do if you had a billion dollars?
#27 What would you do if you had 6 months to live?
#28 What is the best compliment you ever received?
#29 What is the luckiest thing that happened to you?
#30 What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
#31 Which historical figure do you most identify with?
#32 What do you most dislike about your appearance?
#33 What do you consider your greatest achievement?
#34 What do you consider the lowest depth of misery?
#35 What advice would you give yourself 10 years ago?
#36 What do people frequently misunderstand about you?
#37 What do you hope will be different 10 years from now?
#38 What do you hope will be the same 10 years from now?
#39 If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
#40 If you could give everyone in the world one gift, what would it be?