Death & what remains

What would you most want to leave your children?

44 answers answered between 2006 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

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The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.

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Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 2 Arts and letters 30 Politics and public life 4 Business and finance 3 Technology 2 Sport 2
Read by age Any age In their thirties 6 In their forties 7 In their fifties 9 In their sixties 14 Seventy and beyond 5
Randy Pausch Professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design
Shortly after my terminal diagnosis, I knew that one of my biggest priorities was to create memories for my children. Chloe and Logan are both so young that it's likely they'll have no direct memories of me. Dylan is the oldest, and at 5 (turns 6 in December), his memories are likely to be fuzzy. Hence the engineering question: What would make for the sharpest, most visceral memory, esp. for a kid who loves animals? Answer: go for a Dolphin Swim!
Recorded Pausch's own update page on his Carnegie Mellon faculty site, Carnegie Mellon University, School of Computer Science, 4 September 2007 source ↗
David Vélez Co-founder and chief executive of Nubank
Queremos crear un ambiente familiar en donde no todo sea fácil, en donde no todo les caiga del cielo, sino que puedan construir su propio camino y tengan ese sentido de desesperación y esa hambre. Eso significa también que todo ese dinero no se les va a dejar a ellos. Se les dará muchísimo amor, como les damos, y muchas oportunidades de educación y de desarrollo, pero todo ese dinero no es para ellos.
Recorded Vicky Dávila, interview, Semana, 1 October 2022 source ↗

1 answer from members

Ali Abbasi builder
I want to leave my children three foundational tools to navigate the world: Life skills: The practical capability and independence to take care of themselves, solve everyday problems, and handle adult responsibilities with ease. Confidence: A self-belief rooted in resilience, knowing they have worth, deserve to take up space, and can handle failure without letting it define them. A sense of humor: The ability to find levity in life's absurdity, laugh at themselves, and keep perspective when things don't go according to plan. If they leave home with these three things, they'll have everything they need to build a meaningful life.

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