To my mother for disappointing her. Mummy wanted me to be a different sort of person from who I am, but one can’t change oneself.
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
To all my ex-girlfriends because I never turned into the person I thought I was. And to Naomi Campbell, for not being ready to deal with my addictions.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 December 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 209 →
Lucy Worsley
English historian
To my brother. When he was a small boy, I made him urinate on an electric fence to see if liquid could really transmit electricity.
I think that’s a thesis.
Gina McKee
British actress
My brother: I never meant to kill your pet frog. I thought I was doing a good deed cleaning the mossy tank with bleach. Can I also say sorry to the frog?
More from Adam Clayton
View profile →Gabor Maté. He is very eloquent and articulate about the role of trauma in our lives.
A comedian, and I may have achieved that.
That I never became a virtuoso musician.
When I was drinking, there were many times when I was out for the night and didn’t come back for a week.
A few haircuts.
As someone who added to a situation rather than took away from it.
More on failure & regret
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- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 203 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 122 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 122 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 69 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 36 answers
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