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Proust Questionnaire
GARY HART
Twice a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president and now an elder statesman for his party, Gary Hart was co-chair of a federal commission on national security whose report on terrorism, completed in January 2001, proved to be a prescient look at the country’s vulnerability to attack. On the eve of the release of his 12th book, Restoration of the Republic: The Jeffersonian Ideal in 21st-Century America, he takes a moment to reflect on his love of Ireland, his continuing desire to serve his country, and a failure to suppress the Dionysian spirit
Proust Questionnaire
GARY HART
Twice a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president and now an elder statesman for his party, Gary Hart was co-chair of a federal commission on national security whose report on terrorism, completed in January 2001, proved to be a prescient look at the country’s vulnerability to attack. On the eve of the release of his 12th book, Restoration of the Republic: The Jeffersonian Ideal in 21st-Century America, he takes a moment to reflect on his love of Ireland, his continuing desire to serve his country, and a failure to suppress the Dionysian spirit
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Reading The Odyssey in classical Greek on board a three-masted schooner ofT the island of Chios.
What is your greatest fear?
Never having another opportunity to serve my country.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
My political mentor is Thomas Jefferson.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Books.
What is your favorite journey?
Traveling the lanes of Connemara.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Piety.
On what occasion do you lie?
It is excusable only to protect the honor of others, never oneself.
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Where do I start?
Which living person do you most despise?
Anyone cruel to a child.
What is your greatest regret?
Failure to suppress the Dionysian spirit.
What is your current state of mind?
Searching, always searching.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
To have not lost my parents too soon.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Possibly to have inspired one or two young people.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A symphony conductor.
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
An eagle.
What is your favorite occupation?
Writing books.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Courage.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Laughter.
What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty.
Who are your favorite writers?
Where do I start? Homer, Tolstoy, Joyce, Faulkner, Yeats, etc., etc., etc.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Odysseus.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Alas, they are all now gone.
What is your motto?
“March on!”
