Andy Roddick
American tennis player
I look up to people such as Andre Agassi who use their fame as a pedestal for causes. He was great to me early on in my career.
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
Values & belief
Question
Whom do you read even though you disagree with them?
Attention & the world
Question
Which teacher, parent, coach or friend most made you who you are, and what did you learn from them?
Relationships
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
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.
The architect Peter Zumthor, for the baths at Vals in Switzerland.
Rosanna Greenstreet, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 March 2009 source ↗
Others on this question
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Lleyton Hewitt
Australian professional tennis player
Greg Norman, for the way he handles winning and losing.
Anyone who can laugh at themselves.
Marina Abramović
Performance artist
His holiness the Dalai Lama and his ability to forgive.
More from Alain de Botton
View profile →Dying before my children are adults.
To two ex-girlfriends, for my cowardice.
I want to persuade people that Culture, broadly defined (literature, philosophy, art, theatre, photography etc.) can be used as a guide to how to live. I believe in the practical application of Culture, Culture as self-help.
It’s very gratifying to grow utterly incensed by the Mail Online and come away from it full of fury and absolute outrage at its prejudice and xenophobia — and support for Brexit.
I came from a family where books were highly valued, and that set me on the path of reading. Also, my family got out there and did stuff, and so I grew up feeling that you could change things and get things done if you worked hard.
Some dodgy liver function tests in 2004.
More on values & belief
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- What is something everyone in your world agrees about that you think is wrong? 90 answers
- What important truth do very few people agree with you on? 42 answers
- What are you unwilling to optimise? 37 answers
- What have you come to understand about what it means to be human? 31 answers
- What do you need to believe in order to get through the day? 25 answers
Also answered this
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