Last words

Last words or final words are a person's final articulated words, stated prior to death or as death approaches. Last words may not necessarily be written down or accurately recorded, and they may not be quoted accurately for a variety of reasons.

Famous last words

Famous last words include both the literal utterings; such as the sayings of Jesus on the cross, from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar "Et tu, Brute?", and the ironical sense of words said before a disaster, such as:

• "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!" General John Sedgwick at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House immediately before being killed by enemy fire.^[1]
• "Let all brave Prussians follow me!" Field Marshal Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin at the Battle of Prague, immediately before getting hit in the head by a cannonball.^[2]
• "Don't worry about it ... look, the clip is not even in it." Terry Kath of the band Chicago, just before putting a pistol to his temple and pulling the trigger.^[3]
• "The battle is at its height. Beat my war drums. Do not announce my death". Admiral Yi Sun-sin died from a gunshot wound at the naval Battle of Noryang on December 16, 1598.

The last words reported to have been uttered by a person revered as a martyr or hero of a religious, nationalist, or revolutionary movement often gain a political significance and are extensively quoted in later literature and/or used as a slogan. However, in many such cases their historical authenticity is doubted.

See also

• Death poem
• Final statement, or gallows speech, often afforded to a prisoner about to be executed
• Gallows humor
• Last meal
• List of last words

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Last words

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Fictional last words

• "20 Badass Famous Last Words". Pop Crunch.
• Lastword.at