Last Words

A List of Famous Last Words

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The last words of individuals (especially the famous) can be poignant, wise, ironic, funny, or even meaningless. Whatever they are, they are usually fascinating. Have you ever wondered what your last words might be? Would you opt for something wise like Karl Marx?

"Last words are for fools who haven't said enough."

Or, would you say something funny like Oscar Wilde?

"Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."

Here is a list of some well-known farewells. Some offer glimpses into the minds of the famous, but many do not because they are unintentional last words (i.e., not pre-considered).

Do you know some great famous last words? Please let us know. We'll add them to our list.

"When I die, I shall be forgotten." anonymous

"Last words are for fools who haven't said enough." Karl Marx (German philosopher, 1818-1883)

"I am about to – or I am going to – die. Either expression is correct." Dominique Bouhours (French grammarian, 1628-1702)

"I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis." Humphrey Bogart (American actor, 1899-1957)

"Last tag." Richard B. Mellon (American banker, 1858-1933) to his brother Andrew, with whom he played a game of tag that lasted seven decades.

"I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it." Errol Flynn (Australian-born American actor, 1909-59)

"I'm bored with it all." Winston Churchill (British Conservative statesman, 1874-1965)

"Go away ... I'm alright." H.G. Wells (English author, 1866-1946)

"I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring." Richard Feynman (American physicist, 1918-1988)

"I've always loved my wife, my children, and my grandchildren, and I've always loved my country. I want to go. God, take me." Dwight D. Eisenhower (American Republican statesman, 1890-1969)

"Is it the Fourth?" Thomas Jefferson (American president, 1743-1826) who died on 4th July

"This is the last of Earth! I am content." John Quincy Adams (American president, 1767-1848)

"I am not the least afraid to die." Charles Darwin (British naturalist, 1809-1882)

"I'm losing." Frank Sinatra (American singer and actor, 1915-1998)

"I feel certain that I'm going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time." Virginia Woolf (English writer, 1882-1941)

"Turn up the lights, I don't want to go home in the dark." William Sydney Porter aka O Henry (American writer, 1862-1910)

"It's all been very interesting." Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (English aristocrat, writer, and poet, 1689-1762)

"I can't sleep." James M. Barrie (Scottish novelist and playwright, 1860-1937)

"God will forgive me. That's his job." Heinrich Heine (German poet, 1797-1856)

"Either that wallpaper goes, or I do." Oscar Wilde (playwright, 1854-1900)

"I am ready to die for my Lord, that in my blood the Church may obtain liberty and peace." Thomas Becket (Archbishop of Canterbury, 1118-1170)

"Don't you dare ask God to help me." Joan Crawford (American actress, 1906-1977) to her praying housekeeper

"I die hard but am not afraid to go." George Washington (1st American President, 1732-1799)

"Drink to me." Pablo Picasso (Spanish painter, 1881-1973)

"Why not? Yeah." Timothy Leary (American psychologist and writer, 1920-1996)

"I must go in, for the fog is rising." Emily Dickinson (American poet, 1830-1886)

"More milk." Kurt Cobain (American musician, 1967-1994)

"I am not in the least pain upon the world. 'Tis strange." Sir Walter Raleigh (English statesman, soldier, and explorer, 1552-1618)

"Friends applaud, the comedy is finished." Ludwig van Beethoven (German composer, 1770-1827)

"It is very beautiful over there." Thomas Alva Edison (American inventor, 1847-1931)

"I see black light." Victor Hugo (French writer and politician, 1802-1885)

"I can't see a thing." J.M.W. Turner (English painter, 1775-1851)

"I am just going outside and may be some time." Captain Lawrence Oates (British army officer and Antarctic explorer, 1880-1912)

"What an artist dies in me!" Nero (Roman Emperor, Ad 37-68)

"I want nothing but death." Jane Austen (English novelist, 1775-1817)

"I have tried so hard to do right." Grover Cleveland (American president, 1837-1908)

"I am still alive!" Gaius Caligula (Roman Emperor, AD 12-41)

"Pardon me, sir. I did not do it on purpose." Queen Marie Antoinette (Queen of France, 1755-1793) after accidentally stepping on the foot of her executioner

"I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room – died in a hotel room." Eugene O'Neill (American playwright, 1888-1953)

"Money can't buy life." Bob Marley (Jamaican singer, 1945-1981)

"It's very beautiful over there." Thomas Alva Edison (American inventor, 1847-1931)

"Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." Steve Jobs (American entrepreneur, 1955-2011)

"Do not disturb my circles." Archimedes (Greek mathematician, c. 287 BC – 212 BC)

"This is the first time I've been beheaded." Alexander Blackwell (Scottish adventurer, c. 1700–1747)

"Uh Oh!" Unidentified crew member, Challenger Space Shuttle (1986)

"It's okay. The gun's not loaded. See!" Johnny Ace (American R&B singer, 1929–1954)

"This is no way to live." Groucho Marx (American comedian, 1890–1977)

"It must have been the coffee." Jack Soo (American actor, 1917–1979)

"All my possessions for a moment of time." Elizabeth I (Queen of England, 1533–1603)

"I'll show you. It [a pistol] won't shoo..." Johnny Ace (American R&B singer, 1929–1954)

"You're a lifesaver, Andy." William Donaldson (British satirist, 1935–2005)

"I feel great." Pete Maravich (American basketball player, 1947–1988)

"A woman who can still fart is not dead." Louise-Maria-Therese de Saint Maurice (unverified attribution)

"Now is not the time for making new enemies." Voltaire (French writer and philosopher, 1694–1778) to a priest who invited him to renounce the Devil

"How about this for tomorrow's headlines – ‘French Fries’" James French (American convict, executed 1966)

"Yeah. Country music." Buddy Rich (American jazz drummer, 1917–1987) when asked by his nurse if there was anything he couldn’t take

"I'm looking for loopholes." W. C. Fields (American comedian, 1880–1946) when asked why he was reading the Bible

"Surprise me." Bob Hope (British-American comedian, 1903–2003) when asked where he wanted to be buried

"Turn me over; I'm done on this side." St. Laurence of Rome (Christian martyr, died 258)

"On the contrary." Henrik Ibsen (Norwegian playwright, 1828–1906)

"How far do you reckon I can kick this bucket?" Anon

"Oops!" Anon

"Can you smell gas?" Anon

"No need to isolate the circuit for this quick job." Anon

"What do you think I'm going to do? Blow my brains out?" Terry Kath (American guitarist, 1946–1978)

"Capital Punishment means those without capital get the punishment." John Arthur Spenkelink (American convict, executed 1979)

"I've got to be crazy to do this shot. I should have asked for a double." Vic Morrow (American actor, 1929–1982)

"What the Devil do you mean to sing to me, Priest. You are out of time." Jean-Philippe Rameau (French composer, 1683–1764)

"Sergeant, the Spanish bullet is not made that will kill me..." Capt. Buckey O'Neill (American soldier, 1860–1898)

"They couldn't hit an elephant from this dist..." Gen. John Sedgwick (Union Army general, 1813–1864)

Quotations Test

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