We’re not here for long so don’t be wreaking havoc along the way.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which book are you ashamed not to have read?
Taste & recommendation
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two fully readable publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Genuine love is given freely, not by force.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 June 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 141 →Always sleep on any decision.
Warren Zevon
Songwriter and musician
I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years. ... It's one of those phobias that didn't pay off. ... How much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich.
Recorded
David Letterman, Late Show with David Letterman, 30 October 2002, as reported in the New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, 26 January 2003
source ↗
Shakin' Stevens
Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter
You only get out what you put in. Karma – it all comes round.
More from Marina Diamandis
View profile →Getting rid of my phone.
Cheerful, sensitive, sassy.
Myself. I didn’t know how to protect myself adequately when I was younger, and I think I would have experienced my youth differently if I had.
Not trying something I really want to do.
My late 20s, writing my third record.
None! We shouldn’t shame people for not having read “the greats”. There are always new greats emerging that may feel more relevant to our life experience, particularly female writers.
More on time & hindsight
- When were you happiest? 581 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 82 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 63 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 31 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 24 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 23 answers
Also answered this
Brandi Carlile, Arlene Phillips, Pauline McLynn, Marcus Brigstocke, Frank Bowling, Monica Dolan
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Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject