Paul Merson
English footballer and pundit
That materialistic things will not make you happy.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two fully readable publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
You’re going to come up against brick walls in life. You’ve got to go over them, under them, around them, or crash through them, but somehow or other you’ve got to get to the other side.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 August 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 145 →Your lowest moment is temporary.
Kate Bowler
Historian of American Christianity; professor at Duke Divinity School
But cancer has also ushered in new ways of being alive. Even when I am this distant from Canadian family and friends, everything feels as if it is painted in bright colors. In my vulnerability, I am seeing my world without the Instagrammed filter of breezy certainties and perfectible moments. I can’t help noticing the brittleness of the walls that keep most people fed, sheltered and whole. I find myself returning to the same thoughts again and again: Life is so beautiful. Life is so hard.
You are your own greatest asset.
More from Michael Flatley
View profile →The day my son was born.
I don’t give myself that much thought.
I think any of us will be lucky to be remembered at all.
On my deathbed thinking I wish I would have done something that I didn’t do.
Aside from the night that my wife said yes, creating Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, and employing thousands of dancers for the last 30 years.
My recent battle with cancer.
More on time & hindsight
- When were you happiest? 582 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 88 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 67 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 34 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 25 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 25 answers
Also answered this
Robert Carlyle, Minnie Driver, David Lynch, John Simm, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Felicity Jones
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject