When were you happiest?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Patti Smith said elsewhere, not written here
Tramping through the woods in South Jersey in 1957 with my dog Bambi.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

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Joan Bakewell English journalist, television presenter and politician
My student days at Cambridge.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 October 2013 source ↗
Michael Palin English actor
Flying in over London on a cool, clean morning after a long time away.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 September 2009 source ↗

More from Patti Smith

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Question What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? Time & hindsight
Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don’t make compromises. Don’t worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned about doing good work and protect your work. […] Protect your work and if you build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency.
Recorded Christian Lund, Louisiana Literature festival, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 24 August 2012, Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 24 August 2012 source ↗

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