Ali Abbasi: What scares you about getting older?

What scares you about getting older?

Originally asked

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

A newer fixed question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A pool.

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

@aliabbasi first published 1 Sep 2026

Disability

Others on this question

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Peter Sarsgaard

Losing my mind.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 February 2024 source ↗

Paula Wilcox

Not to be able to do the things that you take for granted, like running up the tube steps or going somewhere under your own steam.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 June 2026 source ↗

Winston Churchill Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1940–1945 and 1951–1955; Member of Parliament 1900–1964

One by one the more vigorous sports and exacting games fall away. Exceptional exertions are purchased only by a more pronounced and more prolonged fatigue. Muscles may relax, and feet and hands slow down; the nerve of youth and manhood may become less trusty. But painting is a friend who makes no undue demands, excites to no exhausting pursuits, keeps faithful pace even with feeble steps, and holds her canvas as a screen between us and the envious eyes of Time or the surly advance of Decrepitude. Happy are the painters, for they shall not be lonely.

Recorded Essay first published in the Strand Magazine in 1921–22 and collected in Amid These Storms, 1932, Winston S. Churchill, Painting as a Pastime, Project Gutenberg Canada, 1932 source ↗

Mario Molina Atmospheric chemist; Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1995

Certainly not. As a young child, I remember just dreaming about the Nobel Prize, but that was just a dream. It’s not something I would have ever thought was possible for me.

Recorded Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, 1996, 1996 source ↗

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I want to leave my children three foundational tools to navigate the world: Life skills: The practical capability and independence to take care of themselves, solve everyday problems, and handle adult responsibilities with ease. Confidence: A self-belief rooted in resilience, knowing they have worth, deserve to take up space, and can handle failure without letting it define them. A sense of humor: The ability to find levity in life's absurdity, laugh at themselves, and keep perspective when things don't go according to plan. If they leave home with these three things, they'll have everything they need to build a meaningful life.