Bob Schieffer: When were you happiest?

When were you happiest?

Originally asked

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

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

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

Recorded Bob Schieffer said elsewhere, not written here

When I finished writing a book.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2017 source ↗

Others on this question

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Renée Zellweger

Any recent gathering with friends and family; yesterday, running by the ocean; anytime, solving a problem or creating something. Right now, in bed with news and popcorn.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2017 source ↗

Benjamin Zephaniah British poet and author

In 1985, in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, sitting on the veranda with my grandmother, people-watching, and listening to poetry and local gossip.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 October 2011 source ↗

Christy Turlington Burns American model

Before kids, when I was 13 or so, on the back of my horse, running at full speed in an open pasture. Post kids, happiness happens often, but in more subtle ways. I now prefer the word “content”.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 May 2017 source ↗

Shobna Gulati

In recent times, when I was looking after my mum. She would take me on journeys in her mind and I’d travel with her wherever she went. I felt happy that I had the opportunity to have that time despite her illness.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 October 2025 source ↗

More from Bob Schieffer

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Question What is your idea of perfect happiness? Identity & self

Getting hired. With the possible exception of my daughters’ births and my wedding day, the happiest moments of my life were when someone offered me a job.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 8 September 2017 source ↗