Elmore Leonard
Novelist and screenwriter
Guys who use the word “snot.”
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A verbatim standing question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A questionnaire, documented across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Lack of empathy.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 September 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 204 →
Kellie Maloney
Retired boxing manager, promoter and politician
Being two-faced.
People who are proud of their ignorance.
Certainty. I also can’t stand it when someone calls you and then says, “Wait, I need to put my headphones in.”
More from Penny Lancaster
View profile →The children. As a mother you are constantly worrying whether you’ve done the right thing.
An English teacher said, “You’ll never make anything of yourself.”
In a different sense, I’ve helped to try to resuscitate a dead man.
I would be less naive.
Less time on my phone.
I’m a bit of a hoarder.
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