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.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗
Generally speaking, envy, resentment, revenge, and self-pity are disastrous modes of thought. Self-pity gets pretty close to paranoia and paranoia is one of the very hardest things to reverse. You do not want to drift into self-pity.
Unfriendliness.
Being judgmental – how dare they!
Mean-spiritedness and the inability to set and respect boundaries.
I’m not thrilled with my lack of commitment to feminism in my 20s.
I’m the happiest right now. I can see that I’m in a kind of sweet spot: my parents are alive, my kids are little, my wife is hot and my body doesn’t hurt.
Earnest, driven, Gemini.
Self-righteousness and a phobia of embarrassment.
Sacrifice the self and you will gain it. Serve the self and you will lose it.
To kids I bullied in school. I have apologised and I will continue to. To repay those things karmically, I will watch my kids’ hearts like a hawk for signs of hardening or any distortions of empathy that they might develop.
Bob Mackie, Jason Donovan, Natalie Imbruglia, Su Pollard, Hugh Skinner, Shakin' Stevens
Search the directory for somebody in particular.