The question
Which trait in yourself do you like least?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I’m slightly impatient.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 September 2025 source ↗
The boozing. I started on rum as a child.
My self-criticism.
I’m so tempted to answer serial killer.
I have a child-like fear of being late. I’m a grown man, and I’m scared I’m going to the principal’s office.
Ignorance and rudeness. Decency and a please and thank you cost nothing.
Looking back is not productive.
A Porsche 911 Turbo.
“Do you know what your problem is?” It was a dear friend of mine. They were referring to the fact that I’m impatient.
John McCarthy, the journalist who was held captive for five years in Beirut. I’ve met him and he was so full of peace, humility and forgiveness – it was inspiring.
I last shed a tear when my nephew, who is under 10, announced that he was learning the trombone. When I was about the same age and wanted to learn the trumpet, a music teacher said: “The trumpet isn’t for you. You’ve got too-thick lips.”
Norman Lear, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, Jim Kerr, David Chang, Tina Turner, Phoebe Dynevor
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