Skip to content

The question

Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Others on this question

View all 407 →
Lee Child
The exact median middle-aged black woman in the US. If hard work guaranteed success, she’d be the most successful person on the planet. But she isn’t, yet she keeps on going.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2025 source ↗
Shirley Hughes English illustrator and author
My sons for their bravery, and my daughter and daughters-in-law for being working mothers and always being able to make me laugh.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 January 2012 source ↗
Barack Obama 44th President of the United States, 2009–2017; United States Senator from Illinois 2005–2008
People ask me sometimes, who inspires you, Mr. President? Those quiet heroes all across this country -- some of your parents and grandparents who are sitting here -- no fanfare, no articles written about them, they just persevere. They just do their jobs. They meet their responsibilities. They don't quit. I'm only here because of them. They may not have set out to change the world, but in small, important ways, they did. They certainly changed mine.
Recorded Barnard College, New York City, The White House (Obama administration archive), 14 May 2012 source ↗

More from Nigel Havers

View profile →

More on values & belief

Also answered this

Jim Broadbent, James Taylor, Walton Goggins, Lorraine Pascale, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, Samuel West

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

Report this answer