Bruce Dickinson: Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?

Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?

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.

Recorded Bruce Dickinson said elsewhere, not written here

Procrastination.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 July 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 243 →

Fran Healy Scottish musician

I’m incredibly patient with a lot of stuff, but incredibly impatient with other things. I deplore the impatient side.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 July 2024 source ↗

John Lithgow

Conflict aversion.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, October 2024 source ↗

Eugene Levy Actor and writer

The inability to laugh before 11 a.m.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2019 source ↗

Marina Abramović Performance artist

My difficulty to forgive.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 October 2024 source ↗

More from Bruce Dickinson

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Question Which moment embarrassed you most? Failure & regret

I once threw up on the shoes of one of my vocal heroes, the Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. He sent me home in a taxi with a towel.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 July 2024 source ↗

Question Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought? Money & investment

A Cessna Golden Eagle eight-seater aircraft. I flew it across the Atlantic both ways and did two US tours and two European tours in it. I finally sold it and got a job as an airline pilot in which I was paid to fly, rather than the other way round.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 July 2024 source ↗

Question How close have you come to death? Death & what remains

I’ve been asleep at the wheel on the M11, had an engine fire over the Atlantic in a light aircraft, driven unprotected through an enemy firing zone to do a gig in wartime Sarajevo – the list goes on and on. But I did have stage 3 throat cancer and was cured by some fantastic UK medics.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 July 2024 source ↗