The question
What trait do you most dislike in other people?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A verbatim standing question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A questionnaire, documented across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Jealousy. It’s the thief of joy.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗
Lack of acceptance of my bad timekeeping
Arrogance and entitlement.
People who abuse their power to subjugate others.
The trait that ignites my Sicilian impulsiveness.
As someone who made you think that anything’s possible. I did three marathons in a day once but walking the high-wire at Battersea Park station was the challenge I loved most because I had to master a skill.
There’s a house near me that I adore and it came up for sale, and I got to the point of nearly buying it and then pulled out because I’m trying to be sensible.
Good memories. When I’m gone, I want them to feel that they were always my No 1 priority.
Losing my eyesight – I live for the view, and the sunset and the sunrise.
After the 2012 Olympics I hosted the parade. I had on a little skirt and when the prime minister came on everyone cheered. I thought: “Oh my God, they love David Cameron,” but they were cheering because my skirt had blown up, and I’d flashed my knickers at him.
That you get out of life what you put in. When you grow up on a farm you literally reap what you sow.
Barack Obama, Elmore Leonard, Charles Osgood, Douglas Stuart, John Cleese, Jack Dee
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