The question
If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I wouldn’t because everything is connected with everything else.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 December 2025 source ↗
I would have been a better listener. I would have pursued more friendships instead of focusing so much on work and myself. I’m doing all that now, but I’m running out of time.
I would never have smoked - I gave up years ago.
I wouldn’t have hurt as many people, and I would have thought more before speaking.
A bilious green suit springs to mind.
Six months ago, I decided to move house. I got a skip, cleared everything out and then thought: “Why am I doing this?” So I remained, and I’m glad I did.
To be inquisitive.
Optimistic, nurturing, enquiring.
To have made people healthier and happier.
Connection, warmth, somebody you can trust and, quite happily, say nothing to.
Time blindness.
Oliver Sacks, Henry Marsh, Bianca Jagger, Harry Redknapp, Armistead Maupin, Jennifer Hudson
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