I’m monstrously judgmental. It’s like talking to the pope.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
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.
My inability to say no.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 July 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
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Ronnie O'Sullivan
English snooker player
I’ve got no patience.
Craving the kind of success I pretend to despise.
My personality.
More from Frank Cottrell-Boyce
View profile →I took the whole family to live in the Basque Country for a year. My children and I have a hereditary blood condition so I took out a health insurance policy. I’m still furious that none of us so much as stubbed a toe.
So many. All childcarers and most primary teachers.
That it’s impossible to persuade other people of the value of the lessons that life has taught you.
The unguiltiest pleasure.
I spent an advent in my late teens throttling turkeys.
I once found myself chatting to a big handsome bloke at a party in Oslo. I said, “And what do you do?” “Well,” he said, “I am the king.” Being a great wordsmith, I zinged back, “Oh. Errm. Cool.”
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