Nicholas Parsons
English actor, straight man and presenter
When my children Suzy and Justin were small: I loved watching them grow up, helping and encouraging them.
When were you happiest?
Question
In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to?
Daily life
Question
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Daily life
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Happiness is planting the vegetables, sleeping with my girlfriend, running, doing my work, sitting by the fire with a book and a glass of wine... I need a reason to be unhappy, but do not need one to be quietly cheerful.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 December 2009 source ↗
Others on this question
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Don Warrington
British actor
When I lived with my grandmother in Trinidad, before I came to England to live with my mother in Newcastle at the age of seven.
Daniel Clowes
American cartoonist and writer
Probably in the past few years, though maybe it's just some mid-life hormonal surge.
Rob Delaney
American comedian and actor
Probably last night, when I went into my sons’ bedroom and kissed them on their smelly heads.
More from Jeanette Winterson
View profile →Take no notice of anyone you don’t respect. […] Take no notice of anyone with a gender agenda. A lot of men still think that women lack imagination of the fiery kind.
Never stop when you are stuck. You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write something else. Do not stop altogether.
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