DESMOND TUTU

This fall, the Most Reverend Desmond Tutu celebrates his 80th birthday and the publication of a new biography, Tutu: Authorized. Here, the Nobel laureate muses on rum-raisin ice cream, crybabies, and how he just loves to be loved

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

When we all live together in harmony as one family, in real interdependence; when all have enough to eat, have enough clean water to drink, have decent health care, and we know war no more.

What is your greatest fear?

I fear we will destroy ourselves through our greed and our destruction of our environment.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Jeremiah, the prophet.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

I love to be loved.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

A disregard of others.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Rum-raisin ice cream.

Which living person do you most despise?

No one.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“Er...,” “I mean...”

What is your greatest regret?

Not telling people they had done very well often enough.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?

My wife, Leah, and my mother.

When and where were you happiest?

On April 14, 1956, when our son, Trevor, was born.

Which talent would you most like to have?

To be able to read music.

What is your current state of mind?

Joyful and serene.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Not wanting so much to be loved.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

It is collective: when we won our freedom.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

A mother.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?

As me.

What is your most treasured possession?

My family.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Being treated as rubbish, as a nonperson.

Where would you like to live?

In Soweto.

What is your favorite occupation?

Watching sport.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Being a crybaby.

What do you most value in your friends?

That there is no humbug; they are themselves.

Who are your favorite writers?

Nadine Gordimer, Alan Paton.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

Sherlock Holmes.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Aung San Suu Kyi, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, my mother, my wife.

How would you like to die?

Peacefully in bed, with my loved ones around me.

What is your motto?

“Everyone is precious; everyone matters.”