My intense self-loathing.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
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.
I can always see two points of view, which makes it hard to have a row.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 July 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →
Willem Dafoe
Actor
Punctuality (outside of work, of course).
Paul McKenna
British hypnotist and TV personality
Impatience. My dad said I was born in a hurry.
Michael Flatley
American step dancer
I don’t give myself that much thought.
More from Esther Freud
View profile →Life’s too short to take offence.
For the words to fly from my fingers as just occasionally they do.
I bumped into an old schoolteacher and her even more ancient and deaf sister, and she shouted to her, “Remember Esther? Now she writes books … ABOUT HERSELF.”
Not joining the circus.
My parents died within four days of each other. I was engulfed as I ran from one bedside to another.
Did I behave in the right way?
More on identity & self
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Adam Kay, Adam Lambert, Adele Parks, Adrian Dunbar, Al Franken, Alex Hassell
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