Disrespect. My dad was a toolmaker and worked in a factory all his life, and he felt looked down on, and it really affected him. And so all my life I’ve loathed disrespect and valued respect.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A verbatim standing question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A questionnaire, documented across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Aggression. Anger. Rudeness. Intolerance. Lack of understanding. Pretty much your average day on X.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 October 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 197 →When they don’t tell the truth.
Charlie Munger
Vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, 1978–2023
Generally speaking, envy, resentment, revenge, and self-pity are disastrous modes of thought. Self-pity gets pretty close to paranoia and paranoia is one of the very hardest things to reverse. You do not want to drift into self-pity.
Selfishness—people who don’t care about others or their feelings and will do or say anything as long as they get what they want.
More from Charlie Higson
View profile →All the kids I didn’t reply to who’ve written lovely letters about my books.
I can be horribly smug and conceited, and yet always in the back of my mind is the thought that things could go terribly wrong at any moment.
Three mature palm trees. We restored a property in Italy that had been derelict and I needed to make it look established as quickly as I could.
Middle-class wanker.
I’m a classic remoaner.
I’ve shat myself in public three times. It’s never quite as bad as you fear.
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