This list is a follow up to 20 Famous Last Words. Some of the quotes were taken from the comments, some from my own knowledge and research. The deathbed can lead people to speak with great honesty and, in many cases, humor. These quotes strike a chord with all of us as, inevitably, we will all one day be in the same position – what will you say on your deathbed?
1. Es Lebe Die Freiheit! (Long live freedom!)
Said by: Hans Scholl – German resistance leader, spoken from the guillotine, before his execution in 1943.
2. Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!
Said by: Karl Marx, asked by his housekeeper if he had any last words.
3. I have not told half of what I saw.
Said by: Marco Polo – Venetian traveller and writer.
4. A King should die standing.
Said by: Louis XVIII, king of France. King Louis suffered from gout which left him wheelchair-bound most of his adult life.
5. Brothers! Brothers, please! This is a house of peace!
Said by: Malcom X – American human rights activist, breaking up a fight moments before he was shot.
6. Die, my dear? Why, that’s the last thing I’ll do!
Said by: Groucho Marx
7. Hello. We’re looking in … We’re overlooking the Financial Center. Three of us. Two broken windows — Oh god! Oh g—
Said by: Kevin Cosgrove, an office worker who called for help during the 09/11 attacks and was cut off as the building collapsed around him.
8. In keeping with Channel 40′s policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first — attempted suicide.
Said by: Christine Chubbuck, 30-year-old anchorwoman, who shot herself live on the air.
9. Now I can cross the Shifting Sands.
Said by: L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz. The Shifting Sands are the impassable deserts surrounding the Land of Oz.
10. France, armée, Joséphine… (France, army, Josephine…)
Said by: Napoleon Bonaparte – Emperor of France, on his deathbed.
11. Relax — This won’t hurt.
Said by: Author Hunter S. Thompson. It was the final sentence on his suicide note.
12. Acta est fabula, plaudite! (The play is over, applaud!)
Said by: Attributed to Caesar Augustus, ruler of the Roman empire. (This phrase was commonly used to signal the end of a show in Roman theatres)
13. I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man.
Said by: Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara de la Serna Lynch, right before his execution in Bolivia.
14. My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.
Said by: Oscar Wilde
15. This is a hell of a way to die.
Said by: George S. Patton, who died from a car accident, while out hunting.
16. We got a bad fire! Let’s get out – we’re burning up…
Said by: An Appolo 1 astronaut, probably Roger Chaffee. All three crew members died in a launchpad fire in 1967.
17. Home to the palace to die…
Said by: Czar Alexander II of Russia after an anarchist assassination attempt. He died of his wounds mere hours later.
18. Don’t disturb my circles!
Said by: Archimedes – Greek mathematician who was killed by the Romans, while proving geometric theorems in the sand before him.
19. Don’t let me die like this, say I said something.
Said by: Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary.
20. Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.
Said by: George Appel, a convicted murderer, was sentenced to the electric chair. He shouted these words to members of the press who were to witness his execution.
#3. “I have not told half of what I saw” by Marco Polo. That’s one of the coolest. We will never know the other great things he saw in his travels. He probably decided to keep some things to himself for only he could ever know…
Well usually on someones deathbed they are surrounded by people they love and that want to respect his memory. So i dont think they’re all 100% correct.
How can someone be witty and fresh and die the next second?
A bit more rare are examples of dead bed stories where the person took a 180 deg turn from what their life used to be. My example would be von Neumann who asked for a priest. Kind of controvesial since he was an amazing scientist/mathematician.
once again, there should be honorable mention for Dutch Schultz. If for nothing else the sheer quantity of last words. http://www.feastofhateandfear.com/archives/dutch….
What about Khalid ibn Walid's last words, "I die even as a camel dies. I die in bed, in shame. May the eyes of cowards never find rest in sleep". Despite having numerous battle scars all over his body he never realised his greatest ambition: to die in battle, which is only sought after by the greatest of warriors. A close friend of his said that the reason why he did not die in battle was because he was the sword of God (the name given to him by Muhammad pbuh).
Lmao Oscar Wilde was a genious
i think my last words would be: "dude, check out this sweet flip"
Patton was injured in a car accident while he was in command of the U.S. occupation of Bavaria, he died not long after. I don't understand the "while hunting" reference.
The car accident occured on the way to/from (on that detail I am not entirely sure) a hunting trip outside of Mannheim.
There are apparently some conspiracy theories about his death, but the “official” story is:
From http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,469688,00.htm…
Excerpt:
“On December 21, 1945, America's iconic four-star General, who had triumphed from the deserts of North Africa to Hitler's doorstep, was pronounced dead at the 130th Field Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. He was 60-years-old. Twelve days earlier, General Patton had set off on a pheasant hunting trip near Mannheim when his Cadillac staff car collided with a two-and-a-half ton U.S. Army truck. Patton was immediately paralyzed from the neck down.”
It's Fox News, there is a conspiracy about EVERYTHING
Lol true , but they’re not the only ones:
http://www.bargaintraveleurope.com/09/Germany_Pat…
This article also corroborates the hunting story, which should serve as an underlying point – that with minimal effort, one can find usually find an answer to something faster than they can type out the question in a blog post…
"There is one theory that Patton possessed a secret mythical spear relic he had stolen from the Habsburgs ." lol.
I think it was just a freak accident. They happen sometimes.
…my last word…
…”OUCH!!!”…
I always thought that O. Henry's last words were very touching: "Turn up the lights, I don't want to go home in the dark."
#7 was #1 on your "creepiest recordings" list; that recording has forever haunted me; its just so scary to listen and then the visual of the building collapsing at the moment.
one of my favorites is
"I don't believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time.
~~ Wendy O. Williams, punk rock performer, d. April 6, 1998 "
granted it's a suicide note, but Hunters sucide note was up there so i thought it was fitting!
Very interesting list but also very sad and depressing, in particular the 9/11 and Apollo ones, probably because I can picture those the best.
I'd love to have this as a Podcast….
Please make this list a podcast, please!
et tu, brute?
Amazing last words.
My last words, assuming I will surrounded by those I love, will be, "I love you all, forever and always."
Mine would either be…
1. My bequeath all my fortune to…..
2. jk, gtg.
3. See you guys soon… or not.
Have to take exception with the last words you attribute to Che. From what I have read, he died a sniveling coward who, when caught by soldiers while fully armed himself, said "Don't shoot me! I'm Che, I'm worth more to you alive!" Che was no romantic figure.
"2. Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!"
That's just brilliant, no doubt about it. Great, great list you've made there.
My last words? "Comrades! You must…delete my Internet history…"
One quote I missed in this list was Gener John Sedgwick's famous last words in the Battle of Spotsylvania. Confederate sharpshooters were about 900 feet away, and his men were running for cover when they came under fire.
"What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."
Seconds later he was shot through the eye.
Ermh… I didn't mean feet. Meters! Meters! Damn it!
5. Brothers! Brothers, please! This is a house of peace! – how ironic! lol
Nice collection, kudos for coming up with this.
respawn in 5…4…3..2…1…
Do you really suppose you'll have your timing down that perfectly?
Amazing!
what about:
"I do not have to forgive my enemies, I have had them all shot."
-Ramon Maria Narvaez (Spainish General when asked by a priest if he forgave his enemies)
Actually, the Groucho quote is incorrect. He was in the hospital, and he looked at a nurse in the room and said "What are you doing?". The nurse said something like "We're seeing if you have a temperature". Groucho then said "Don't be silly, everybody has a temperature".
i like to collect that thing is the most
I love Marx!!!
Amazing list, as always.
I would have to say that my last words would be…
"I lost The Game."
Oscar Wilde's "last" words are usually quoted as "This wallpaper is awful; one of us has to go", but as he died alone, who would know?? please be accurate..
I believe Gandhi's final quote should have been there.
Actually, Che guevara’s last words were: Stand up straight soldier, you’re about to kill a man
I would probably say "ctrl-alt-delete-application-life" in a robot voice.
Live and let Die….
baked apple …….LOL!!!!!!
My last words would’ve been “Don’t worry, it’s probably sleeping.”
What about the band member of "Mayhem" who was coined with the name "Death"? When he killed himself, his note read "Sorry about the mess", as he killed himself in their house with a shotgun to the face.
another excellent list
well researched and well written
well done
My last words, hopefully will be "Respawn in 5, 4, 3, 2,1…".
What about Doc Holliday before succumbing to tuberculosis, just simply said: “This is funny,”. He said this because he thought he was going to be shot, hung, stabbed, or in a fight. He always said he didn’t want to die in a bed in some sanatarium, which he did in Colorado, I forget the exact date he died.
i want to add the great socialist Swedish/American activist/song writer Joe Hill, in front of a firing squad waiting to be shot he shouts "Fire!".
and like to mention his last will too,
My will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing to divide.
My kin don't need to fuss and moan,
"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone."
My body? Oh, if I could choose
I would to ashes it reduce,
And let the merry breezes blow,
My dust to where some flowers grow.
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again.
This is my Last and final Will.
Good Luck to All of you, Joe Hill.
I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.
7. Hello. We’re looking in … We’re overlooking the Financial Center. Three of us. Two broken windows — Oh god! Oh g—
Kevin Cosgrove, wasn’t an officer worker per say, he was the Vice President of Claims for Aon Corporationan.
He says to the operator on the phone “My wife thinks I’m all right, I called and said I was leaving the building and that I was fine, and then bang!” while 2 World Trade Center was burning. His last words were “Hello? Hello! We’re looking, we’re looking over the Financial Center. Three of us, two broken windows”. A second later, he yells “Oh God!!! Oh…” when the South Tower collapses.
Well gentlemen you are about to see a baked apple.. lol this so funy words to be saying before dying.
intresting list
thanks
here’s my fav
“God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death”
-Jacques de Molay, last knights templar grandmaster
burned at stake
C’mon, how can you compile such a long & humorous list yet forget the Aussie icon “Such is life” ___ NED KELLY???