Philip Gould: If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change?

The question

If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

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

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

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

Philip Gould

Political strategist and pollster; architect of New Labour

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

When I thought maybe I've just got a few weeks, I thought God this is what they mean by the reckoning. I've got to sort all this stuff out in days. Is it possible to sort out all those things in your past that you'd prefer not to have done? ... But actually by going through the process we've gone through, I think we have. And it's a real blessing to have this time do that.

Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian, interview at Gould's home in London, 20 September 2011 source ↗

Others on this question

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Jason Isaacs English actor

I wouldn’t have spent so much time trying to be a professional skateboarder or snooker player.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 November 2020 source ↗

Emma Bunton British singer

I would edit my worry, because I suffer from anxiety, which ruins some moments.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 June 2021 source ↗

Jeremy Vine English presenter and journalist

I’d stop my teenage self worrying about how my life was going to pan out.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 August 2019 source ↗

Laura Kenny English cyclist

I would have spent every single day with my sister before she left to live in New Zealand. At my wedding, it was the first time I had seen her in two and a half years.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 January 2017 source ↗

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Question Has knowing you will die changed how you live? Death & what remains

I live by the day. Just sitting in the park, looking at the flowers thinking how beautiful they are. It's almost … not hallucinogenic but it's a much stronger feeling than previously. For me, at the moment, going for a walk in the park with Gail is heaven.

Recorded Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian, interview at Gould's home in London, 20 September 2011 source ↗

Question Does the thought of dying frighten you? Death & what remains

From the moment I resolved and reconciled things with Gail the fear went. I don't feel I've got any fear now. I think acceptance is the key. If you accept death, fear disappears.

Recorded Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian, interview at Gould's home in London, 20 September 2011 source ↗

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