Sue Townsend
English writer and humorist
Losing my independence.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
Which book are you ashamed not to have read?
Taste & recommendation
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Not marrying the person I wanted to marry, but now I think it’s probably good that I didn’t.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 January 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 366 →I spent about five years living in Paris thinking I would become Kristin Scott Thomas, and it didn’t happen.
Shane MacGowan
Irish singer-songwriter
I never set my sights that high, so I’m not disappointed with anything.
David Guetta
French DJ
Every time I put out a record, I feel like it’s the best. So when a record is not successful it’s very painful.
More from Monica Dolan
View profile →Being lost and no one wanting to find me.
Any unread book a friend bought me.
I once walked up to Harriet Walter while she was having lunch on her own because I thought I knew her, and then when I got up to the table I realised I didn’t know her, I just recognised her because she was Harriet Walter.
I try too hard not to get things wrong.
Another actress once said to me, “I’ve told you huge lies to make you feel good about yourself.” I’m not going to say who.
To believe my eyes and not my ears.
More on failure & regret
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 answers
- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 203 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 122 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 122 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 69 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 36 answers
Also answered this
Archie Panjabi, Rick Astley, Tom Allen, Cybill Shepherd, Andrew Ridgeley, Rupert Graves
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