The question
What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?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.
When each of my three children was born.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2024 source ↗
I am probably happiest now, but I have been happy at every stage of my life.
Driving solo across the country from New York to Washington State.
January 15, 1991. Walking up Congress Avenue in Austin, with thousands of others, to see Mom sworn in as governor of Texas.
A couple of summers ago, walking through a forest illuminated by fireflies, with my man and our dogs.
As a man who tried to respect everyone, treating them with a smile and with due regard, despite the limitations of being human.
I fear the arrogance we are all at risk of, the pride that pushes us to put “I” in place of “God”. More prosaically, I fear physical pain because it risks stripping us of our dignity.
As a young man I had a car accident on a foggy night that left the vehicle looking like a squashed box, even though, by some miracle, I walked away unscathed.
Earthly life is merely the infancy of our soul. What comes after physical death is, I imagine, like returning home.
Lack of humility, the absence of goodness.
A singer. I wanted to live off music ever since I was a child – a wish that came true when I was over 35 years old.
Michael Palin, Suzi Quatro, Desmond Tutu, Ray Mears, Tracey Ullman, Bianca Jagger
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