The question
Which trait in yourself do you like least?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I’m a bit of a hoarder.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 September 2025 source ↗
I’ve learned to give myself a break. Everyone should.
Self-righteousness and a phobia of embarrassment.
I’m chronically late. It’s magical thinking: I actually believe I can take a shower and get dressed in three minutes, that the train will be pulling into the station the moment I arrive….
Nobody has ever accused me of being a superior communicator. If I could have conveyed to the American people the concerns I had, and my heartbeat, a little more clearly, maybe I would not be unemployed and retired. And I might not be this happy, either. I learned a lot from Ronald Reagan about communication. Never got to be in his league in terms of it, but he could say something and the American people might not agree with the issue, but they could empathize with him.
Honest, empathetic, daring.
The children. As a mother you are constantly worrying whether you’ve done the right thing.
It was reading out loud, but no longer. (I am dyslexic.) I was encouraged by my husband to do a speech for the Royal National Institute of Blind People, which helped me gain my confidence, and the fear disappeared.
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.
Vick Hope, John Lewis, Dolly Parton, Dervla Kirwan, Michelle Yeoh, Sarah Perry
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