A bushel of self-confidence.
What would you like to leave your children?
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
A strong sense of being loved and a hopefulness for their life ahead.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 February 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 53 →
Derek Sivers
Founder of CD Baby; author of Anything You Want
The rest should go to music education, since that’s what made such a difference in my life. I created a charitable trust called the Independent Musicians Charitable
Adam Gopnik
Staff writer at The New Yorker; essayist
I still think the greatest gift you can give your kids is easy exposure to interesting things. Not compelling them to go see things, but making them feel that art and literature are just parts of the world
Mohamed ElBaradei
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, 1997-2009; Nobel Peace Prize 2005
For them, home is the world. For them, every human being is just one member of that large human family you have. ... if we have more children like mine, in my view, we will not have war.
More from Billy Crudup
View profile →If people would just follow my rules about how they get around the city.
Giving a speech in high school at a pep rally that wasn’t going so well and the dean unplugged the mic. Apparently, I was rambling and the spirit of the cafeteria was being weighed down.
I was going to a bar with friends and there was a line at the door. I’d been there before and asked the doorman to skip the line. He said, “Oh, I remember you, you were in Almost Famous, weren’t you?” And I said, “Yeah.” And he goes, “Yeah, get back in line.”
Being a parent.
Slow but trying.
Flashes of hubris.
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