List of last words

Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of rivals. Caesar was shocked to see his friend Brutus partake in his murder.

This is a list of last words, statements spoken by people shortly before their death.

Last words spoken by famous people

In rising chronological order, with death date specified. If relevant, also the context of the words or the circumstances of death are specified. If there is controversy or uncertainty concerning a person's last words, this is described in footnotes.

Antiquity

"All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness."[1]
("व्अय्अध्अम्म्आ स्अङख्आर्आ अप्प्अम्आद्एन्अ स्अम्प्आद्एथ्आ")
— Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha, Indian sage who founded Buddhism (c. 483 BC)
"Heaven has turned against me. No wise ruler arises, and no one in the Empire wishes to make me his teacher. The hour of my death has come."
— Confucius, Chinese philosopher who founded Confucianism (479 BC)
"For, no Athenian, through my means, ever wore mourning."
— Pericles, Greek statesman (429 BC), discussing with his friends what his greatest accomplishment had been
Socrates was sentenced to drink a poison after being accused of questioning traditional Athenian values.
"Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt."[2]
("Κρίτων, ἔφη, τῷ Ἀσκληπιῷ ὀφείλομεν ἀλεκτρυόνα· ἀλλὰ ἀπόδοτε καὶ μὴ ἀμελήσητε")
— Socrates, Greek philosopher (c. 399 BC), right before his death by ingestion of poison hemlock which he was forced to drink as a death sentence
"To the strongest!"[3]
("Για το ισχυρότερο!")
— Alexander the Great, warlord and king of Macedon (c. 11 June 323 BC), when asked about to whom his vast empire should belong after his death
Archimedes was summarily executed by a soldier after refusing to turn away from his math problem.
"Don't disturb my circles!"[4][5]
("Μη μου τους κύκλους τάραττε!")
— Archimedes, Greek mathematician (c. 212 BC), to a Roman soldier who interrupted his geometric experiments during the capture of Syracuse, whereupon the soldier became so upset that he killed him
"Let us ease the Roman people of their continual care, who think it long to await the death of an old man."
("Liberemus diuturna cura populum Romanum, quando mortem senis exspectare longum censent.")
— Hannibal, Carthaginian general (c. 182 BC)
"You too, my child?"[note 1][8][7]
("Και συ τεκνον?")
— Julius Caesar, Roman emperor (15 March 44 BC), discovering that his adoptive son Brutus was among his murderers
"There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly."
("Nihil propriis quid facis, latro, autem non tentant recte ut interficias me.")
— Cicero, Roman statesman (7 December 43 BC), facing an assassin sent by a rival
Cleopatra is believed to have committed suicide by letting a poisonous snake bite her.
"So here it is!"
("Τόσο εδώ!")
— Cleopatra, pharaoh of Egypt (12 August 30 BC), right before she reportedly committed suicide by letting an asp bite her
"Mantua bore me, Calabria snatched me away, now Naples holds me; I sang of pastures, fields, and kings."
("Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc Parthenope; cecini pascua rura duces.")
— Virgil, Roman poet (21 September 19 BC)
"Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit."[note 2][9][7][10]
— Augustus Caesar, Roman emperor (19 August 14 AD)

"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."[note 3]
("Abba b-iḏaiḵ sa’em ‘na ruḥ.")
— Jesus, Jewish preacher who founded Christianity (c. 30 AD), right before his death by crucifixion
"Too late! But, ah, what fidelity!"[6]
— Nero, Roman emperor (9 June 68 AD), to the soldier trying to save him after his suicide
"Oh dear, I suppose I'm turning into a god... An emperor should die on his feet."[11][12]
("Vae, puto, deus fio... imperatorem stantem oportet mori.")
— Vespasian, Roman emperor (24 June 79 AD), ironically alluding to the Roman practice of posthumously deifying former emperors, before he collapsed and died when attempting to stand up

Middle ages

"Oh God, highest friend in heaven!"[13][14][15]
("اللَّهُمَّ الرَّفِيقَ الأَعْلَى")
— Muhammad, Arabian preacher and statesman who founded Islam (8 June 632)
"Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit."[16]
— Charlemagne, European monarch (28 January 814), quoting Jesus
"Let not my end disarm you, and on no account weep or keen for me, lest the enemy be warned of my death."
("Миний төгсгөлийг чамаас гуйхгүй, ямар ч шалтгаангүйгээр битгий уйлж, дуулгавартай байгаарай, дайсан минь миний үхлээс сэрэмжлүүлцгээе.")
— Genghis Khan, warlord and khan of Mongolia (18 August 1227)
"I have not told half of what I saw."[17]
("Non ho detto a metà di quello che ho visto.")
— Marco Polo, Venetian traveller in Asia (c. January 9, 1324)
Joan of Arc was a French war heroine who was captured by the British and executed by fire. A devout Christian, her last will was to look at a crucifix while the flames consumed her.
"Hold the cross high so I may see it through the flames!"
— Joan of Arc, French military commander and Christian mystic (30 May 1431), while she was burning at the stake
"Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."[18]
("In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum.")
— Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (20 May 1506), quoting Jesus
"I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."[19][10]
("Ho offeso Dio e l'umanità perché il mio lavoro non ha raggiunto la qualità che dovrebbe avere.")
— Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist and scientist (2 May 1519)
"Happy."[20]
— Raphael, Italian artist (6 April 1520)
"We are beggars, this is true."[21][22]
("Wir sein Pettler, Hoc est Verum.")
— Martin Luther, German theologian who started the Protestant Reformation (18 February 1546)
"Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here."[20][10]
— Nostradamus, French seer (2 July 1566), correctly predicting his death
"All my possessions for a moment of time."
— Elizabeth I, queen regnant of England (24 March 1603)
"I am going, but the State shall always remain."
("Je m'en vais, mais l'État demeurera toujours.")
— Louis XIV, king of France (1 September 1715)

Early modern age

Charles XII of Sweden, his body here pictured on its journey to Stockholm, was shot dead while inspecting his army's trenches.
"Don't be afraid."
("Var intet rädd.")
— Charles XII, king of Sweden (11 December [O.S. 30 November] 1718), assuring his troops about his own safety minutes before being killed in battle
"I don’t know what I may seem to the world. But as to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than the ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."[20]
— Isaac Newton, English physicist (31 March [O.S. 20 March] 1726)
"It has all been most interesting."
— Mary Wortley Montagu, English traveller (21 August 1762)
"Now is not the time for making new enemies."[note 4][24]
— Voltaire, French writer (30 May 1778), when asked by a priest to renounce Satan before his death
"I am tired of ruling over slaves."[6]
("Ich bin es müde, über Sklaven zu herrschen.")
— Frederick the Great, king of Prussia (17 August 1786)
"A dying man can do nothing easy."[20][25][26]
— Benjamin Franklin, American statesman and scientist (17 April 1790), complaining about difficulty to assume a more comfortable position on his deathbed
"The taste of death is upon my lips... I feel something, that is not of this earth."[27]
— Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer (5 December 1791)
"I feel sleepy, a short time of rest would do me good."
("Jag känner mig sömnig, ett kort ögonblicks vila skulle göra mig gott.")
— Gustav III, king of Sweden (29 March 1792), in a hospital bed after being shot at a masquerade two weeks earlier
"Gentlemen, I am innocent of everything of which I am accused. I hope that my blood may cement the good fortune of the French."[10]
("Messieurs, je suis innocent de tout ce dont on m'inculpe. Je souhaite que mon sang que vous allez répandre ne retombe jamais sur la France.")
— Louis XVI, king of France (21 January 1793), speaking to his executioners
Marie Antoinette, queen of France, was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution.
"Pardon me, sir. I did not do it on purpose."[27][10]
("Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l'ai pas fait exprès.")
— Marie Antoinette, queen of France (16 October 1793), apologizing to her executioner for stepping on his foot
"Water."[28]
— Catherine the Great, empress of Russia (17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1796)
"'Tis well. I die hard, but I am not afraid to go."[25]
— George Washington, first president of the United States (14 December 1799)
"Remember, my Eliza, you are a Christian."[25]
— Alexander Hamilton, American statesman (12 July 1804), addressing his wife Eliza after being mortally shot by his rival in a duel
"I think I could eat one of Bellamy's veal pies."[29]
— William Pitt the Younger, British Prime Minister (23 January 1806)
"I want nothing but death."[26]
— Jane Austen, English novelist (18 July 1817), being asked by her sister Cassandra if she wanted something
"France, the army, the head of the army, Joséphine."[10]
("France, armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine.")
— Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France (5 May 1821)
"Is it the Fourth?"[30]
— Thomas Jefferson, president of the United States (4 July 1826)
"Thomas Jefferson survives."[31][32]
— John Adams, president of the United States (4 July 1826), unaware that Jefferson had died earlier that same day
"Pity, pity - too late!"[note 5][33]
— Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (26 March 1827), being informed that his publisher had gifted him 12 bottles of wine
"Please open the second window of the bedroom so that more light can enter."[6]
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German statesman and writer (22 March 1832)
"This is the last of Earth. I am content."[34]
— John Quincy Adams, president of the United States (21 February 1848)
"Lord, help my poor soul"[35]
— Edgar Allan Poe, American writer (7 October 1849), quoting one of his poems
"Oh, I am not going to die, am I? He will not separate us. We have been so happy."
— Charlotte Brontë, English author (31 March 1855), addressing her husband Arthur
"It is beautiful."[36][26]
— Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet (29 June 1861)
"Why are you dodging like this? They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
— John Sedgwick, Union general of the American Civil War (9 May 1864), shortly before being shot in the head by a Confederate sharpshooter[37]
President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate nationalist, while unsuspectingly watching a stageplay. Lincoln had recently fought and won a civil war against the Confederate States.
"She won't think anything about it."[note 6][41]
— Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States (15 April 1865), assuring his wife Mary that their friend Clara would not mind them holding hands, shortly before he was fatally shot from behind
"I am not the least afraid to die."[10]
— Charles Darwin, English naturalist and evolutionary (19 April 1882)
"Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!"[27][10][26]
— Karl Marx, political theorist (14 March 1883), when asked by his housekeeper about his last words
"House."
("Haus.")
— Otto von Bismarck, German statesman (30 July 1898), writing on a piece of paper with unknown meaning
"Keep up the fire, men."[42]
— Emerson H. Liscum, United States Army colonel (July 13, 1900), dying after being shot at the Battle of Tientsin
"My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go."[27][7][43][44][45]
— Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright (30 November 1900)
"Bertie."[46]
— Victoria, queen regnant of the United Kingdom (22 January 1901), remembering her husband Albert who had died forty years earlier
"Give me my glasses."[47]
— Mark Twain, American novelist (21 April 1910), to his daughter Clara
"Mozart!"[20]
— Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (18 May 1911)
"One last drink, please."[27]
— Jack Daniel, American alcohol businessman (10 October 1911)
"Well boys, do your best for the women and children, and look out for yourselves."[note 7][49]
— Edward Smith, sea captain of the RMS Titanic (15 April 1912), giving orders before walking onto the bridge and staying with the sinking ship
"Swing low, sweet chariot."[20]
— Harriet Tubman, American humanitarian and activist (10 March 1913)

Modern age

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated during a motorcade ride through Sarajevo by a group of nationalists. This was the first event in a series that triggered World War I.
"It is nothing... it is nothing..."[50][51]
("Es ist gar nichts... es ist gar nichts...")
— Franz Ferdinand, archduke and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary (28 June 1914), on his way to a hospital after being fatally shot by a Serbian nationalist in an assassination which ultimately triggered World War I
"Now I can cross the shifting sands."[27]
— L. Frank Baum, American author (5 May 1919), referring to a fictional location in one of his books
"No."[52][53]
(signing 'no' in sign language)
— Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-American inventor (2 August 1922), replying to his deaf wife Mabel's plea "Don't leave me."
"Good dog."[20]
("Вот собака.")
— Vladimir Lenin, Russian communist statesman and revolutionary (21 January 1924), to his dog who was bringing him a dead bird
"It's very beautiful over there."[10]
— Thomas Edison, American inventor (18 October 1931), speaking words of unclear meaning as he was dying
"I don't want it."
("Je ne le veux pas.")
— Marie Curie, Polish-French scientist (4 July 1934), upon being offered a painkilling injection
"God damn you!"[54]
— George V, king of the United Kingdom (20 January 1936), to a nurse giving him a sedative
Amelia Earhart and her aircraft disappeared in the Pacific Ocean during her attempted world circumnavigation. It is believed that she crashed into the ocean and died.
"We are running on line north and south."[55]
— Amelia Earhart, American aviation pioneer (c. 2 July 1937), reporting to her headquarters in her last known radio transmission shortly before her disappearance
"I don’t think two people could have been happier than we have been."[26]
— Virginia Woolf, English writer (28 March 1941), addressing her husband Leonard in her suicide note
"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are still truly good at heart..."
— Anne Frank, German diarist (c. February or Mach 1945)
"Shoot me in the chest!"[56]
("Sparami nel petto!")
— Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist statesman (28 April 1945), facing a partisan leader
Adolf Hitler committed suicide to avoid capture after losing World War II.
"Above all, I charge the leadership of the nation and their followers with the strict observance of the racial laws and with merciless resistance against the universal poisoners of all peoples, international Jewry."[57]
("Vor allem verpflichte ich die Führung der Nation und die Gefolgschaft zur peinlichen Einhaltung der Rassegesetze und zum unbarmherzigen Widerstand gegen den Weltvergifter aller Völker, das internationale Judentum.")
— Adolf Hitler, German Nazi statesman (30 April 1945), closing his last will before committing joint suicide with his wife
"God damn the whole friggin’ world and everyone in it but you, Carlotta."[20]
— W. C. Fields, American entertainer (25 December 1946), addressing his wife
"Oh God!"[58]
("हे राम!")
— Mahatma Gandhi, Indian revolutionary and pacifist (30 January 1948), shortly after being shot by a Hindu nationalist
"I'm going over the valley."
— Babe Ruth, American baseball player (16 August 1948)
"At fifty, everyone has the face he deserves."[20]
— George Orwell, English author (21 January 1950), dying at the age of 46
"I'm finished. I don't even trust myself."[59]
— Joseph Stalin, Russian statesman
"I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly."[60]
— Albert Einstein, German theoretical physicist (18 April 1955), declining surgery the day before his death[note 8]
"Goodbye, kid. Hurry back."[20][7]
— Humphrey Bogart, American actor (14 January 1957), to his wife Lauren as she left to collect their children, after which he entered a fatal coma
"Goodnight my kitten."[20][26]
— Ernest Hemingway, American author (2 July 1961), before committing suicide with a shotgun
"Remember, honey, don’t forget what I told you. Put in my coffin a deck of cards, a mashie niblick, and a pretty blonde."[20]
— Chico Marx, American actor and comedian (11 October 1961), giving his wife Mary humorous instructions for his funeral
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated during a motorcade ride through Dallas. This picture was taken a few minutes before the shooting.
"No, you certainly can't."[62][63][64]
— John F. Kennedy, president of the United States (22 November 1963), replying to co-passenger Nellie Connally saying "You certainly can't say Dallas doesn't love you, Mr. President." while travelling through Dallas in a motorcade, seconds before he was fatally shot by a sniper
"I'm bored with it all."[20][26]
— Winston Churchill, prime minister of the United Kingdom (24 January 1965)
"Brothers! Brothers, please! This is a house of peace!"[27]
— Malcolm X, American activist (21 February 1965), trying to calm a 400-person chaos shortly before being killed by gunfire from multiple assailants
"Ron Miller \ Way Down Cellar \ Kirt Russell [sic] \ CIA - Mobley"[65][66]
— Walt Disney, American animation pioneer and businessman (15 December 1966), written on the bottom of a page
"Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."[67]
— Martin Luther King Jr., American activist (4 April 1968), speaking to a musician shortly before being shot
"Don't lift me."[68][69][70]
— Robert F. Kennedy, American politician (6 June 1968), speaking to medical attendants who lifted him onto a stretcher several minutes after he was shot, fatally losing consciousness shortly thereafter
"I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man."[71]
("Sé que estas aqui para matarme. Dispara, cobarde, solo vas a matar a un hombre.")
— Che Guevara, Cuban statesman and revolutionary (9 October 1967), facing his captors
"I feel pain here."[72]
("Ça fait mal là.")
— Charles de Gaulle, French statesman (9 November 1970), pointing at his neck seconds before he unexpectedly died from aneurysm
"You see, this is how you die."
("Vous voyez, c'est comme ça que vous mourez.")
— Coco Chanel, French fashion businesswoman (10 January 1971)
"I feel ill. Call the doctors."
— Mao Zedong, Chinese statesman and revolutionary (9 September 1976)
"I'm going to the bathroom to read."[20]
— Elvis Presley, American musician, shortly before being found dead on the bathroom floor
"This is no way to live!"[73][20]
— Groucho Marx, American actor and comedian (19 August 1977)
"That was a great game of golf, fellas."[74]
— Bing Crosby, American singer and actor. (14 October 1977)
"One never knows the ending. One has to die to know exactly what happens after death, although Catholics have their hopes."[73]
— Alfred Hitchcock, English filmmaker (29 April 1980)
"I'm shot! I'm shot!"[note 9][77]
— John Lennon, English musician (8 December 1980), moments after being fatally shot
"Money can't buy life."[27][10]
— Bob Marley, Jamaican musician (11 May 1981)
"Just don't leave me alone."
— John Belushi, American actor and comedian (5 March 1982)

Contemporary age

External image
Kurt Cobain's suicide note
"Ow, fuck!"[78]
— Roald Dahl, British author (23 November 1990).
"I love you, I love you!"
— Kurt Cobain, American musician (5 April 1994), closing his suicide note with a reassuring to his wife Courtney and daughter Frances
"My God, what's happened?"[79][80][81]
— Diana, former princess consort of Prince Charles of England (31 August 1997), shortly after being fatally wounded in a car accident
"I'm losing it."[20]
— Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (14 May 1998)
"Channel 5 is all shit, isn't it? Christ, the crap they put on there. It's a waste of space."[82]
— Adam Faith, English singer and actor (8 March 2003)
"Surprise me."[73]
— Bob Hope, American actor and comedian (27 July 2003), being asked by his wife where he wanted to be buried
Michael Jackson asked his doctor for more propofol, and was given an injection which led to his death. The doctor was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
"Let me have some milk."[83][84]
— Michael Jackson, American musician (25 June 2009), asking his doctor for more propofol shortly before he died from an overdose of the same drug
"Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow."[20][85]
— Steve Jobs, American electronics businessman (5 October 2011), looking at his family
"I'm going to go and see Jesus."[86][87]
— Whitney Houston, American musician (11 February 2012)
"Let's go for a drive."[88][89]
— Paul Walker, American actor (30 November 2013), speaking to his friend Roger Rodas while entering his Porsche, shortly before Rodas went speeding and crashed the car into a tree, killing them both

Last words spoken by fictional characters

Books and print

"Fly, you fools!"
— Gandalf the Grey in The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954), to his fellowship before being pulled off of the broken Bridge of Khazad-Dûm in Moria.

Film and TV

"Rosebud."
— Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) in Citizen Kane (1941), where the film largely revolves around these last words
"You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister you were right."
— Darth Vader (portrayed by David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones) in Return of the Jedi (1983), replying to his son saying "I've got to save you."

Stage

"O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die."
— Romeo
"O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rest, and let me die."
— Juliet
in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare, 1597), where the two committing suicide by poisoning and stabbing, respectively, in grief over the other's death (although Juliet's death was fabricated)

Last words of people sentenced to death

  • Arthur Gary Bishop: "I want to offer again my most profound and heartfelt apologies to my victims' families. I am truly sorry. I have tried my best to empathize with their grief and devastation and I hope they come to know of my concerns and prayers for them."[90]
  • Black Caesar, nicknamed after the eponymous pirate and one of the first convicts transported in Australia by the British Empire, escaped the penal colony in 1789 and lived as a bushranger in the wilderness. He survived by raiding garden patches with a stolen gun. When he was eventually caught, according to colonial governor David Collins, he was "so indifferent about meeting death, that he declared in confinement that if he should be hanged he would create a laugh before he was turned off, by playing some trick upon the executioner."[91]
  • Aileen Wuornos "Yes, I would just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back, like Independence Day, with Jesus. June 6, like the movie. Big mother ship and all, I'll be back, I'll be back."
  • Ted Bundy: "Give my love to my family and friends."[92]
  • Roger Keith Coleman: "An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope America will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have. My last words are to the woman I love. Love is eternal. My love for you will last forever. I love you, Sharon."
  • Erskine Childers: (Facing a firing squad) "Take a step or two closer, lads. It will be easier that way."[93]
  • Lena Baker: "What I done, I did in self-defense, or I would have been killed myself. Where I was I could not overcome it. God has forgiven me. I have nothing against anyone. I picked cotton for Mr. Pritchett, and he has been good to me. I am ready to go. I am one in the number. I am ready to meet my God. I have a very strong conscience."[94]
  • Charles Deen: "I am going now."[95]
  • Edgar Edwards: (To the chaplain, on the way to the scaffold) "I've been looking forward to this a lot!"[96]
  • Edward Ellis: "I just want everybody to know that I think the prosecutor and Bill Scott [a fellow inmate who testified against Ellis] are some sorry s.o.bs."[92]
  • Murderer James French (Before his death by electric chair): "Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow's paper? 'French Fries'!"
  • John Wayne Gacy: "Kiss my ass."[97]
  • Johnny Garrett: "I'd like to thank my family for loving me and taking care of me, and the rest of the world can kiss my ass."[92]
  • Kenneth Edward Gentry: "Thank the Lord for the past 14 years that have allowed me to grow as a man. To J.D.’s family, I am sorry for the suffering you have gone through the past 14 years. I hope you can get some peace tonight. To my family, I am happy to be going home to Jesus. Sweet Jesus, here I come. Take me home. I am going your way."[98]
  • Gary Gilmore: "Let's do it!", before being executed by firing squad. Gilmore is also oft-quoted as saying a few minutes earlier, as he walked past the Hi-Fi Murderers on his way to be executed was: "Adios, Pierre and Andrews. I'll be seeing you directly."[92][99]
  • G.W. Green: (Echoing Gary Gilmore) "Lock and load. Let's do it, man."[92]
  • Roosevelt Green: "I am about to die for a murder I did not commit, that someone else committed ... I love the Lord and hope that God takes me into his kingdom, and goodbye, [M]other."[92]
  • Irma Grese: "Schnell."[100][101] (translated as "Quick" and glossed idiomatically as "Make it quick" or "Get it over with.")[102]
  • Donald Harding: Declined to make a final statement, but signaled the executioner to get started. His asphyxiation in the gas chamber took 11 minutes before death was finally confirmed, and Harding spent his last moments cursing Arizona's state attorney general Grant Woods and giving him the middle finger.[92][103]
  • Robert Alton Harris: "You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone dances with the grim reaper." (This is a misquotation of a line[104] in the 1991 film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, which was in turn a paraphrase of the German danse macabre caption Wer war der Thor, wer der Weiser, wer der Bettler oder Kaiser? Ob arm, ob reich, im Tode gleich ("Who was the fool; who [was] the sage; who [was] the beggar or [the] Emperor? Whether rich or poor, in death [all are] equal.").[92]
  • Joe Hill: When on November 19, 1915, Deputy Shettler, who led Joe Hill's firing squad, called out the sequence of commands preparatory to firing ("Ready, aim,") Joe Hill shouted, "Fire -- go on and fire!"[105] Just prior to his execution, Hill had written to Bill Haywood, an IWW leader, saying, "Goodbye Bill. I die like a true blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize... Could you arrange to have my body hauled to the state line to be buried? I don't want to be found dead in Utah."[106][107]
  • Daryl Holton: "Two words, I do."[108]
  • Mona Fandey: Aku tak akan mati (I never dead)
  • Ned Kelly: Allegedly, "Such is life."[109]
  • Timothy McVeigh: Convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing, McVeigh chose "Invictus" (Latin for "unconquered"), an 1875 poem by the British poet William Ernest Henley, as the final statement prior to his execution.[110][111]
  • Harry Morant, to his firing squad: "Shoot straight, you bastards. Don't make a mess of it!"[112]
  • At his public execution, the murderer William Palmer is said to have looked at the trapdoor on the gallows and asked the hangman, "Are you sure it's safe?"[113]
  • Ronald Clark O'Bryan: "What is about to transpire in a few moments is wrong! However, we as human beings do make mistakes and errors. This execution is one of those wrongs yet doesn’t mean our whole system of justice is wrong. Therefore, I would forgive all who have taken part in any way in my death. Also, to anyone I have offended in any way during my 39 years, I pray and ask your forgiveness, just as I forgive anyone who offended me in any way. And I pray and ask God’s forgiveness for all of us respectively as human beings. To my loved ones, I extend my undying love. To those close to me, know in your hearts I love you one and all. God bless you all and may God’s best blessings be always yours. Ronald C. O’Bryan. P.S. During my time here, I have been treated well by all T.D.C. personnel."[114]
  • Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded in the Old Palace Yard at the Palace of Westminster on 29 October 1618. "Let us dispatch", he said to his executioner. "At this hour my ague comes upon me. I would not have my enemies think I quaked from fear." After he was allowed to see the axe that would behead him, he mused: "This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all diseases and miseries." According to many biographers – Raleigh Trevelyan, in his book Sir Walter Raleigh (2002), for instance – Sir Walter's final words (as he lay ready for the axe to fall) were: "Strike, man, strike!"
  • James W. Rodgers: (Facing a firing squad) "I done told you my last request ... a bulletproof vest."[115]
  • Madame Roland: "O Liberté, que de crimes on commet en ton nom!" ("Oh Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!")[116]
  • Ronald Ryan: to the hangman "God bless you, please make it quick"
  • John William Rook: "Freedom. Freedom at last, man."[92]
  • John Thanos: "Adios."[117]
  • William Tyndale, before being strangled and burned at the stake: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."[118]
  • Dmitry Bogrov, before being executed for assassination of the Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin: (to the executioner) "Should I lift my head a bit?"

Notes

  1. ↑ It is a common misconception that the last words was "Et tu, Brute?", meaning "And you, Brutus?". However, this is a misattribution originating from the play of the same name by William Shakespeare.[6][7]
  2. ↑ It is also said that Augustus' last words were "Behold, I found Rome of clay, and leave her to you of marble." This is not entirely incorrect, as these words were his last spoken in public.[9][7][10]
  3. ↑ Although the gospels differ in accounts on the last words of Jesus, there is some consensus that this line, found in Luke 23:46, was the last of his last sayings.
  4. ↑ This is disputed,[23] albeit widely considered his last words.
  5. ↑ Beethoven's last words are subject to ongoing debate,[10] however, these words were his last recorded.
  6. ↑ While these were his last words, Lincoln’s final utterance was laughter. As the President watched the play Our American Cousin, actor Harry Hawk delivered one of the best lines of the play: "Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal; you sockdologizing old man-trap!" Lincoln was laughing at this line when he was shot.[38][39][40]
  7. ↑ There are conflicting accounts of Smith's last words. Newspaper reports said that as the final plunge began, Smith advised those on board to "Be British boys, be British!"; this was just a myth popularised by the British press at the time.[48] Not one of the Titanic surviving crew members claimed that Smith had said these words.[48] Because Steward Brown's account of Smith giving orders before walking onto the bridge was the last reliable sighting, this would make Smith's last words as described above.
  8. ↑ His true last words are unknown, as he spoke them in German to the attending English nurses, who could not understand him.[61] These are therefore his last known words.
  9. ↑ Lennon is rumoured to have additionally said "Yes, I am." when asked by a police officer if he was John Lennon. This is however highly doubted and conflicted by other accounts. Reportedly, officer James Moran asked, "Are you John Lennon?" to which Lennon nodded and replied, "Yes."[75] According to another account by officer Bill Gamble, Lennon nodded slightly and tried to speak, but could only manage to make a gurgling sound, and lost consciousness shortly thereafter.[76]

See also

References

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  2. ↑ Plato, Phaedo (in Greek), retrieved 2018-02-26
  3. ↑ Barr, Stringfellow (1966). The Mask of Jove: A History of Graeco-Roman Civilization from the Death of Alexander to the Death of Constantine. Lippincott. p. 6.
  4. ↑ "Archimedes the mathematecian Source: www.greeka.com". Greeka. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  5. ↑ Holodny, Elena (15 Feb 2017). "Famous last words of 19 famous people". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "6 Mythical Final Words of Famous People". History Rundown. 29 Dec 2013. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cain, Áine (24 Oct 2017). "8 'famous last words' that were probably made up". Business Insider. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  8. ↑ Suetonius, Julius 82.2
  9. 1 2 "Real Last Words and death-bed quotes". Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Holodny, Elena (Oct 13, 2015). "Famous last words of 18 famous people". Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  11. ↑ Suetonius, Life of Vespasian, 23:4
  12. ↑ McKeown, J. C. (2010). A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-19-539375-0.
  13. ↑ Reşit Haylamaz (2013). The Luminous Life of Our Prophet. Tughra Books. p. 355. ISBN 9781597846813. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018.
  14. ↑ Fethullah Gülen (2000). Muhammad The Messenger of God. The Light, Inc. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-932099-83-6.
  15. ↑ Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Volume 5). DARUSSALAM. 2003. p. 214. ISBN 9789960892764.
  16. ↑ "Charlemagne: Famous Last Words". Look and Learn. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  17. ↑ Down, Jim (9 Aug 2002). ""I did not tell half of what I saw" by Jim Down". NEWSFINDER. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  18. ↑ Gibson, Christine (20 May 2017). "Christopher Columbus, Failure". American Heritage. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  19. ↑ MacGuill, Dan (22 November 2017). "Leonardo Da Vinci's Surprising Last Words?". Snopes. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Brahms, William (2012). Last Words of Notable People: Final Words of More than 3500 Noteworthy People Throughout History. ASIN B009TJOL5S.
  21. ↑ Lawson, Steven (Mar 18, 2013). "Martin Luther's Last Words". Ligonier Ministeries. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  22. ↑ "Luther's Last Words". B&H Academic Blog. June 7, 2016. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
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  24. ↑ Bulston, Michael E (2007). Teach What You Believe. Paulist Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8091-4481-5.
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  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cockerton, Paul (11 Mar 2014). "Steve Irwin, Karl Marx, Bob Marley: The final words of nine famous faces". Retrieved 9 Feb 2018.
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  30. ↑ Bear, Jr., James A. (1974). "The Last Few Days in the Life of Thomas Jefferson". Magazine of Albemarle County History. Vol. 32. OCLC 808021656.
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  32. ↑ —— (2003). Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 248. ISBN 978-1400077687.
  33. ↑ Thayer (1921) volume 3, p. 307
  34. ↑ Chapin, Edwin (1848). The Truly Great: A Discourse Appropriate to the Life and Character of John Qunicey Adams.
  35. ↑ Meyers, Jeffrey (1992). Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy (Paperback ed.). New York City: Cooper Square Press. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-8154-1038-6.
  36. ↑ "From Birth to Death: The Life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning". 25 March 2002. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  37. ↑ Foote, Shelby. The Civil War: A Narrative. vol. 3, Red River to Appomattox. New York: Random House, 1974. ISBN 0-394-74913-8, p 203.
  38. ↑ Goodrich, Thomas (2006). The Darkest Dawn: Lincoln, Booth, and the Great American Tragedy. Indiana University Press. p. 96. ISBN 9780253218896.
  39. ↑ "1865 April 29: The National Calamity—Further Details of the Assassination". 2015-04-29. A moment before the attack was made, the President was leaning forward, resting his head on his hand, in his accustomed careless way, his eyes bent upon the stage, and enjoying a hearty laugh.
  40. ↑ "Beatrice resident saw Lincoln shot". I noticed that Mr. Lincoln was laughing at something in the play. Just then I noticed the curtain in the rear of Mr. Lincoln’s box pulled apart and I looked squarely at the man as he came in. At first I thought he was one of the theater attendants bringing in a glass of water and decanter, for something shone in each of his hands. Just then a shot rang out.
  41. ↑ Swanson, James. Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. Harper Collins, 2006. ISBN 978-0-06-051849-3
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  115. ↑ "National Affairs". Newsweek. 61 (1). January 7, 1963. p. 34. Retrieved December 19, 2010. Usually, by choice, the doomed man is strapped into a scarred old chair facing the firing-squad enclosure 23 feet away. His head is hooded, and a white cloth heart, trimmed in red, is pinned to his chest. Precisely at sunup, five .30-30 rifles-one loaded with a blank—do the job. Utah's unique tradition has its own gallows humor. Just before he was shot in 1960 for killing a uranium miner, James W. Rodgers made a last request: a bulletproof vest
  116. ↑ McShane, Larry (24 April 1992). "Last Words of Those Executed Express Variety of Emotions". Daily News. Retrieved 29 July 2012. [alternately reported as] "O, Liberty! How they have duped you.
  117. ↑ Small, Glenn (17 May 1994). "Unrepentant Thanos put to death". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  118. ↑ Foxe, John (1570). Actes and Monuments, VIII.1229. Foxe's Book of Martyrs Variorum Edition Online.
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