Opening day of The Empire Strikes Back, 86th Street Loews.
When were you happiest?
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I’m the happiest right now. I can see that I’m in a kind of sweet spot: my parents are alive, my kids are little, my wife is hot and my body doesn’t hurt.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 581 →Every morning when I go into our three-year-old’s room. He’s so happy to see you, it’s a moment of heaven.
Ian Wright
English footballer and pundit
1990 FA Cup final, playing for Crystal Palace.
Olivia de Havilland
Film actress; twice winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress
In their company, each of us doing his/her own thing in perfect harmony.
More from Brandi Carlile
View profile →Self-righteousness and a phobia of embarrassment.
Greed, lack of empathy. Same thing.
Sacrifice the self and you will gain it. Serve the self and you will lose it.
Leaving the stage from a panic attack in my 20s. Hearing the audience angry.
I cried last week after talking about marriage equality with my daughters. My oldest let slip that she believed that if the supreme court overturned Obergefell, she wouldn’t have parents any more. I felt angry with my country and ashamed that I didn’t consider the possibility that she might think that.
To kids I bullied in school. I have apologised and I will continue to. To repay those things karmically, I will watch my kids’ hearts like a hawk for signs of hardening or any distortions of empathy that they might develop.
More on time & hindsight
- What is the most important lesson life has taught you? 141 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 82 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 63 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 31 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 24 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 23 answers
Also answered this
John Simpson, Vinnie Jones, Joss Stone, David Haye, Ernest Borgnine, Angela Eagle
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