This was the question film-maker Liz Gray asked 99 people after a life-changing injury left her facing the future. Responses from poets, musicians, politicians, scientists, people working for peace, spiritual understanding and health showed her, and now us, how every word can be precious. The book design evolved from repeated reading of the contributors’ texts. The content is printed in dark blue and brown with coral coloured end papers. We aimed to make a book that was coherent whether opened at random or read from cover to cover.