Famous Last Words

   

Click On Underlined Names For A Short Biography

   
   
 

John Quincy Adams

   
This is the last of earth! I am content.  
   
 

Akiba ben Joseph

   

The paper burns, but the words fly free.

(At the stake, when the Torah was also burned.)

   
 

Ethan Allen  (US Revolutionary General)

   
Waiting are they? Waiting are they? Well--let 'em wait.
(In response to an attending doctor who attempted to comfort him by saying, "General, I fear the angels are waiting for you.")
   
 

Marie Antoinette

   
Farewell, my children, forever. I go to your Father.
(Executed by guillotine. Year 1793)  
   
   
Marie Antoinette  
   
Monsieur, I beg your pardon.  
(Spoken to the executioner, after she stepped on his foot.)
   
   

George Appel

 
   
Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.
(Executed in electric chair in New York in 1928.)
   
 

John Jacob Astor

   
The ladies have to go first. Get in the lifeboat to please me. Goodbye, dearie. I'll see you later.
(Spoken to his wife as he gave up his seat on a Titanic lifeboat)
   
 

Lady Nancy Astor

 
   
Am I dying or is this my birthday?
   
 

Jane Austen

   
Nothing, but death.
(Her response to her sister Cassandra when asked: is there anything you want?)
   
 

Max Baer (Boxer)

 
   
Oh God, here I go..."  
   
 

P.T. Barnum

 
   
How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?
   
 

Ethel Barrymore

 
   
Is everybody happy? I want everybody to be happy. I know I'm happy.
   
 
John Barrymore  
   
Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.
   
 

Henry Ward Beecher

 
   
Now comes the mystery.
   
 
Ludwig van Beethoven
   
Friends applaud, the comedy is finished.
   
 
Humphrey Bogart  
   
I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.
   
 
Anne Boleyn  
   
The king has been very good to me. He promoted me from a simple maid to be a marchioness. Then he raised me to be a queen. Now he will raise me to be a martyr.
   
   
 

Napoleon Bonaparte

 
   
Josephine...  
   
   
Dominique Bouhours (French Grammarian)
   
I am about to -- or I am going to -- die: either expression is correct.
   
   

Karla Faye Tucker Brown

 
   
I am going to be face to face with Jesus now. . . . I love you all very much. I will see you all when you get there. . . . I will wait for you.
(Executed by injection, Texas in 1998)
   
 

Lord George Byron

 
   
Now I shall go to sleep. Goodnight.  
   
 
Julius Caesar  
   
Et tu, Brute?  
   
 

Nicolas-Sebastien Chamfort (French Writer)

   
And so I leave this world, where the heart must either break or turn to lead.
(Suicide Note)  
   
 

Charles II, King of England

 
   
I have been a most unconscionable time dying, but I beg you to excuse it.
   
 
Robert Erskine Childers (Irish Patriot)  
   
Take a step forward, lads. It will be easier that way.
(Executed by firing squad in 1922.)
   
   

Chris Chubbuck (Newscaster)

 
   
And now, in keeping with Channel 40's policy of always bringing you the latest in blood and guts, in living color, you're about to see another first - an attempted suicide.
(Shot herself during a broadcast.)
   
 

Winston Churchill

 
   
I'm bored with it all.  
   
   

Kurt Cobain (Musician)

 
   
Frances and Courtney, I'll be at your altar. Please keep going Courtney, for Frances for her life will be so much happier without me. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU.
(Suicide Note)  
   
 

Noel Coward

 
   
Goodnight my darlings, I'll see you tomorrow.
   
 

Joan Crawford

 
   
Damn it . . . Don't you dare ask God to help me.
(To her housekeeper, who had begun to pray aloud.)
   
 

Bing Crosby

 
   
That was a great game of golf, fellers.
   
   

Francis 'Two Gun' Crowley

 

   
You sons of bitches. Give my love to Mother.
(Executed in electric chair in 1931.)  
   
 

James Dean

 

 

 

That guy's got to stop. . . .  He'll see us.
(Spoken as a car was about to turn into his lane in front of him)
   
 

Diana Spencer (Princess of Wales)

   
My God. What's happened?  
   
 

Emily Dickinson

 

   
I must go in, the fog is rising.  
   
   

Robert Drew

 

   
Remember, the death penalty is murder.
(Executed by injection, Texas in 1994.)
   
 

Madame du Barry (Mistress of Louis XV)

 

 

You are going to hurt me, please don't hurt me, just one more moment, I beg you!
(Guillotined in 1793.)  
   
   

Jessica Dubroff

 
 

 

Do you hear the rain? Do you hear the rain?
(Seven year old pilot just before her plane crashed)
   
 

Amelia Earhart

 

   
KHAQQ calling Itasca. We must be on you, but cannot see you. Gas is running low.
   
 

George Eastman (Inventor)

 
   
To my friends: My work is done. Why wait?
(Suicide Note)  
   
 

Thomas Alva Edison

 
   
It is very beautiful over there.
   
 

Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

   
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.
   
 

Elizabeth I  (Queen of England)

 
   
All my possessions for a moment of time.
   
 

George Engel

 
   
Hurrah for anarchy! This is the happiest moment of my life.
(Last words on the gallows in 1886.)
   
 

Douglas Fairbanks Sr.

 

   
I've never felt better.  
   
   

Marquis Thomas de Mahay Favras

 
 

I see that you have made three spelling mistakes.

(Reading his death sentence as he was led to the scaffold.)
   
   

Richard Feynman (Physicist)

 

   
I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring.  
   
 

W.C. Fields

 

 

 

God damn the whole friggin' world and everyone in it but you, Carlotta.
(Spoken to his long time mistress Carlotta Marti.)
   
 

Errol Flynn

 
   
I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it.
   
 

Benjamin Franklin

 

   
A dying man can do nothing easy.
   
   

James French

 
   
How about this for a headline for tomorrow's paper? French fries.
(Executed in electric chair in Oklahoma, Year 1966.)
   
   

John Frank 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.
(Executed by injection, Texas. Year 1992)
   
   

George Gipp

 

 

 

Some day, when things look real tough for Notre Dame, ask the boys to go out there and win one for the Gipper.
(Spoken to his Football Coach Knute Rockne. Rockne repeated this to the team 8 years later during halftime in a game against Army, Notre Dame went on to win)
   
   

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Writer)

 

 

When all usefulness is over, when one is assured of an unavoidable and imminent death, it is the simplest of human rights to choose a quick and easy death in place of a slow and horrible one.
(Suicide Note)
   
 

Gary Gilmore

 
 

 

Let's do it!
(Executed by firing squad, Utah. Year 1977)
   
   

Jimmy Glass

 
 

 

I'd rather be fishing.
(Executed in electric chair, Louisiana. Year 1987)
   
   

Barbara Graham

 
 

 

Good people are always so sure they're right.
(Executed at San Quentin. Year 1955)
   
   

Thomas J. Grasso

 
   
I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.
(Executed by injection, Oklahoma. Year 1995)
   
 

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

 
 

 

I know you have come to kill me. Shoot coward, you are only going to kill a man.
(When confronted by his assassin)
   
 

Nathan Hale

 
   
It is the duty of every good officer to obey any orders given him by his commander-in-chief.
(Actual)
(Shot by British as a spy. Year 1776)
   
   

Nathan Hale

 
   
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
(Attributed)  
   
   

Robert Alton Harris

 

 

 

You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone dances with the Grim Reaper.
(Executed in California's gas chamber. Year 1992)
   
   

Heinrich Heine (Poet)

 
   
God will pardon me, that's his line of work.
Turn up the lights, I don't want to go home in the dark.
   
 

O.  Henry (William Sidney Porter)

 

   

Turn up the lights, I don't want to go home in the dark.

   
   

Lionel Herrera

 
   
I am innocent, innocent, innocent. Make no mistake about this. I owe society nothing. I am an innocent man and something very wrong is taking place tonight.
(Executed by injection, Texas. Year 1993)
   
   

John Erik Hexum (Actor)

 
   
Let's see if this will do it.
(Accidental suicide as he shot himself with a blank-loaded pistol on the set of TV spy show "Cover Up." The concussion forced a chunk of his skull into his brain; he died six days later.)
   
 

Conrad Hilton

 

   
Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub.
   
 

Thomas Hobbes (Writer)

 
   
I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.
   
 

Victor Hugo

 
   
I see black light.  
   
 

Andrew Jackson

 
   
Oh, do not cry - be good children and we will all meet in heaven.
   
 

General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson

 
 

 

Let us cross over the river and sit in the shade of the trees.
(Killed in error by his own troops during the Civil War)
   
   

Jesus Christ

 

   
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
   
 

Joan of Arc, Saint

 

   
Hold the cross high so I may see it through the flames!
   
 

Jolson, Al

 

   
This is it!  I'm going.  I'm going.
   
 

James Joyce

 

   
Does nobody understand?
   
   

Steven Judy

 
 

 

I don't hold any grudges. This is my doing. Sorry it happened.
(Executed in electric chair, Indiana. Year 1981)
   
   

Terry Kath (Rock Musician)

 
   
Don't worry, it's not loaded.
(Suicide playing Russian roulette.)
   
   

George Kelly

 

 

 

My dear, before you kiss me good-bye, fix you hair. It's a mess.
(Spoken to his niece as she leaned down to kiss him.)
   
   

Ned Kelly

 
 

 

Such is Life
(Executed by hanging. Year 1880)
   
 

John F. Kennedy 

 

 

 

That's obvious.  
(Responding to the Texas Governor's wife's comment: "Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you.")
   
 

Saint Lawrence

 

 

 

Turn me.  I am roasted on one side.
(Spoken to his Roman executioners who had asked him if he had any last request while tied to a gridiron suspended over a bed of hot coals.)
   
 

James Lawrence

 

 

 

Tell the men to fire faster and not to give up the ship; fight her till she sinks.
(Often shortened to "Don't give up the ship.")
   
   

Franz Leher (Composer)

 
   
Now I have finished with all earthly business, and high time too. Yes, yes, my dear child, now comes death.
   
 

Abraham Lincoln

 

   
Laughter.  
   
 

Louis XIV

 

   
Why do you weep? Did you think I was immortal?
   
 

Louis XVI

 
 

 

I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge; I Pardon those who have occasioned my death; and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France.
(Executed by guillotine. Year 1793)
   
 

 Louis XVIII

 
   
A King should die standing.  
   
 

Walter De La Mare (Writer)

 
   
Too late for fruit, too soon for flowers.
   
 

Malcolm X

 
 

 

Let's cool it brothers . . .  
(When confronted by his 3 assassins)
   
 

Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria

 

 

 

No, but comfortable enough to die.
(Responding to her son Joseph when he stated: 'Your Majesty cannot be comfortable like that.')
   
 

Cotton Mather (New England Minister)

   
Is this dying?  Is this all?  Is this what I feared when I prayed against a hard death?  Oh, I can bear this!  I can bear this!
   
 

Karl Marx

 
 

 

Go on, get out - last words are for fools who haven't said enough.
(When asked by his housekeeper to tell her his last words)
   
 

Maximilian  (Emperor of Mexico)

   
I forgive everybody. I pray that everybody may also forgive me, and my blood which is about to be shed will bring peace to Mexico. Long live Mexico! Long Live Independence!
   
 

Sal Mineo

 

   
Oh God! No! Help! Someone Help!
   
 

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (Writer)

   
It's all been very interesting.
   
 

Harry Harbord 'Breaker' Morant (Australian National Hero)

 

 

Shoot straight you bastards and don't make a mess of it!
(Executed by firing squad. Year 1902)
   
 

Mario Benjamin Murphy

 
 

 

Today is a good day to die. I forgive all of you. I hope God does too.
(Executed by injection, Texas. Year 1997)
   
 

Benito Mussolini

 
   
Shoot me in the chest!  
(To his executioners. Year 1945)  
   
   

Ramon Maria Navarez (Spanish Politician)

   
I do not have to forgive my enemies.  I have had them all shot.
   
 

Laurence Olivier

 

 

 

This isn't Hamlet, you know, it's not meant to go into the bloody ear.
(To his nurse, who spilt water over him while trying to moisten his lips.)
   
 

Eugene ONeill

 

   
I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room - and God damn it - died in a hotel room.
   
 

Carl Panzram

 
   
Hurry it up you Hoosier bastard! I could hang a dozen men while you're screwing around.
(Executed by hanging Leavenworth, Kansas. Year 1930)
   
 

Anna Pavlova (Ballerina)

 
   
Get my swan costume ready.  
   
 

Pietro Perugino (Painter)

 
   
I am curious to see what happens in the next world to one who dies unshriven.
(Giving his reasons for refusing to see a priest as he lay dying.)
   
 

Edgar Allan Poe

 
   
Lord help my poor soul.  
   
 

James K. Polk

 
   
I love you Sarah. For all eternity, I love you.
(Spoken to his wife.)  
   
 

Alexander Pope (Writer)

 

   
Here am I, dying of a hundred good symptoms.
   
 

Freddie Prinze (Comedian)

 

   
I must end it. There's no hope left. I'll be at peace. No one had anything to do with this. My decision totally.
(Suicide Note)  
   
 

Francois Rabelais (Writer)

 

   
I owe much; I have nothing; the rest I leave to the poor.
Bring down the curtain, the farce is played out.
   
 

Sir Walter Raleigh

 
 

 

So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lieth.
(Executed by beheading. Year 1618)
   
   

Sir Walter Raleigh

 

   
Strike, man, strike!  
   
 

Cecil John Rhodes

 

   
So little done, so much to do.  
   
   

James Rodgers

 

   
Why yes, a bullet proof vest.  
(His final request before facing the Firing Squad)
   
 

Theodore Roosevelt

   
Put out the light.  
   
 

George Herman (Babe) Ruth

   
I'm going over the valley  
   
 

Saki (Hector Hugh Munro)

 

 

 

Put that bloody cigarette out.  
(Just before being killed by a sniper, 14 November 1916)
   
   

George Sanders (Actor)

 

   
Dear World, I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool - good luck.
(Suicide Note)  
   
 

William Saroyan (Writer)

 
   
Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case.  Now what?
   
 

Captain Robert Falcon Scott