I’m slightly impatient.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
Which book are you ashamed not to have read?
Taste & recommendation
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
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.
Well, I’m always right.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 May 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →
Dolly Parton
American singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman
The fact that sometimes my mouth is a little too big and a little too open and sounds too much like a sailor.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
English interior designer and television personality
I am crucified by my modesty: it’s terrible.
I’m very impatient – next question.
More from Stephanie Beacham
View profile →Actress, mother, grandmother.
Haven’t done it yet.
None. I love reading, and I read a good book and a bad book at the same time.
Two ears. I am deaf in my right ear and I’ve just developed musical tinnitus – it’s not an interesting tune and you don’t choose it. I had three weeks of Hare Krishna night and day. Then it changed to Rod Stewart’s Sailing.
People who think they’re always right.
I think that’s a thesis.
More on identity & self
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