KEY POINTS:
Paul Holmes this week completes a 22-year reign as king of the breakfast radio airwaves. The man who has asked everything - and been asked just about everything - today takes the famous Proust Questionnaire to reveal his greatest love, fears and regrets.
>>Take the Proust Questionnaire
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A harmonious family, and the feeling of freedom when I'm on an aeroplane lifting off from Auckland Airport, heading for the world - all the worries drop away behind you.
What is your greatest fear?
Failure.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Self-centredness, and I think I don't do enough community work.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Bad manners.
Which living person do you most admire?
[Wife] Deborah and her loving patience.
What is your greatest extravagance?
My ridiculous motor car [a Bentley].
What is your current state of mind?
Mellow.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
A university degree.
On what occasion do you lie?
I do not generally. I might have told the odd little lie but I don't do big lies.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My fat tummy.
Which living person do you most despise?
Joe Atkinson [Senior Political Science lecturer at Auckland University, who criticised Holmes' "Cheekie Darkie" reference to Kofi Annan].
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Humour, courage, generosity, discretion.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intelligence, laughter, a beautiful smile and skin.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"It's seven minutes to seven".
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Deborah, flying and broadcasting.
When and where were you happiest?
Wellington, 2ZB, 1985-1987 - I'd come back from overseas and was doing a wonderful job and meeting fascinating people who became firm friends. Having said that, I'm never really too unhappy for long. I try to make the most of where I am. Auckland has been wonderful to me.
Which talent would you most like to have?
I'd like to be able to sing.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Nothing really. There have been some things in the past, but I can't change them, so I don't sweat it.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My son, the ZB ratings - and surviving a few times when I might not have.
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
President of the United States.
Where would you most like to live?
Hawke's Bay or southern France.
What is your most treasured possession?
My CNZM (Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit).
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Bad love - say no more.
What is your favorite occupation?
Broadcasting - live radio and television; writing.
What is your most marked characteristic?
My honest, relentless sense of humour.
What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty and laughter. Without the first there is not the second.
Who are your favourite writers?
Simon Sebag Montefiore, Anthony Beever, Boris Johnson, Dominick Dunne, Jane Austen.
Who is your hero of fiction?
Mr Rochester - rough, brusque, wounded, decent.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Duane Kale, Ben Lucas, paralympians. People who struggle and succeed. People who, despite knowing pain, succeed.
What are your favourite names?
Deborah, Reuben, Alex.
What is it that you most dislike?
Disloyalty.
What is your greatest regret?
Not leaving my job in 1993 and going into Parliament. Mind you, it might have killed me; it certainly wounds nearly everyone who's been there.
How would you like to die?
Quickly... sighing as they put me in the coffin, "what a hell of a ride".
What is your motto?
Who dares wins, who lasts wins.
