Values & belief

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

406 answers answered between 1985 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

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.

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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 2 Arts and letters 338 Politics and public life 27 Business and finance 15 Technology 2 Sport 22
Read by age Any age Before thirty 19 In their thirties 60 In their forties 77 In their fifties 68 In their sixties 50 Seventy and beyond 61
Order Earliest first Most recent Surprise me
Arnold Schwarzenegger
My mother-in-law, Eunice Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics, and my father-in-law, Sargent Shriver, who founded Job Corps and was the first director of the Peace Corps.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2003 source ↗
Ed Harris American actor and director
My father. He has treated every person he has met with kindness and respect.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 August 2007 source ↗
Robert Carlyle Scottish actor
I'm a great admirer of Tony Benn -he's one of the few politicians who speaks his mind.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 February 2008 source ↗
Cybill Shepherd American actress and former model
Jimmy Carter, for his wisdom and courage in going to meet Hamas.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2008 source ↗
Joseph Fiennes English actor
Aung San Suu Kyi: an extraordinary humanitarian fighting for democracy in a Burmese dictatorship.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 October 2008 source ↗
Dustin Hoffman
The Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira, who is 100 years old and still working.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2009 source ↗
David Hasselhoff American actor, singer, and television personality
My father, because he's a positive man with an enormous amount of compassion. My mother passed away four days ago.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 April 2009 source ↗
Judd Apatow
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Neil Young. Not in that order.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2009 source ↗
Garrison Keillor
My president, a heroic figure—also good- humored, pretty smart, elegant; and if the rest of the world thinks he typifies America, I don’t mind at all.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2009 source ↗
Ted Danson American actor
My wife, who has created our life and our happiness with me.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 April 2010 source ↗

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