Young, beautiful, deluded.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this exact standing prompt.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Small, determined, lucky.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 July 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 113 →Very silly boy.
Hopeful, egalitarian, overweight.
Ponderous, over thinking.
More from Esther Freud
View profile →My parents died within four days of each other. I was engulfed as I ran from one bedside to another.
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.”
For the words to fly from my fingers as just occasionally they do.
Talking about the hardships of my mother’s life – she would not approve.
I can always see two points of view, which makes it hard to have a row.
Not joining the circus.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Jon Snow, Michelle Collins, Kelly Hoppen, Shobna Gulati, Caroline Lucas, Midge Ure
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