The question
What lesson has mattered most in your life?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two fully readable publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Don’t answer every question you’re asked.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 August 2026 source ↗
That your life is only in this very second.
Every single morning the sun comes up and you get to try again.
Worry about the things you can control and don’t worry about the things you can’t.
The best way to spend time is to waste it.
A dress designer.
At the election of Joe Biden, thinking we were out of the woods. Wrong.
“Let’s face it, you’re not Ingrid Bergman.” I was 19 and he was a potential boyfriend. My only thought at the time was: “I’m not?”
Climate change.
Fifteen years ago, I totally forgot my lines on stage and was mortified. We skipped two pages of dialogue and took three minutes off the play – to the delight of the audience!
Not keeping off the last 5lbs.
Marcus Mumford, Meghann Fahy, Sarah Hadland, Hamza Yassin, Peter Sarsgaard, Jane Asher
Search the directory for somebody in particular.