- John Barrymore, actor, d. May 29, 1942
- Ethan Allen, American Revolutionary general, d. 1789
- Dominique Bouhours, French grammarian, d. 1702
- Humphrey Bogart, actor, d. January 14, 1957
- Jane Austen, writer, d. July 18, 1817
“Codeine . . . bourbon.
”
- Tallulah Bankhead, actress, d. December 12, 1968
“Now comes the mystery.”
- Henry Ward Beecher, evangelist, d. March 8, 1887
“Friends applaud, the comedy is finished.
”
- Ludwig van Beethoven, composer, d. March 26, 1827
“Beautiful.
”
In reply to her husband who had asked how she felt.
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, writer, d. June 28, 1861
"The earth is suffocating . . . Swear to make them cut me open, so that I won't be buried alive."
Dying of tuberculosis.
- Frederic Chopin, composer, d. October 16, 1849
"I'm bored with it all.”
Before slipping into a coma. He died 9 days later.
- Winston Churchill, statesman, d. January 24, 1965
"This time it will be a long one."
- Georges Clemenceau, French premier, d. 1929
"Damn it . . . Don't you dare ask God to help me.
To her housekeeper, who had begun to pray aloud.
- Joan Crawford, actress, d. May 10, 1977
"I am not the least afraid to die."
- Charles Darwin, d. April 19, 1882
"Adieu, mes amis. Je vais la gloire."
(Farewell, my friends! I go to glory!)
- Isadora Duncan, dancer, d. 1927
"No, I shall not give in. I shall go on. I shall work to the end."
- Edward VII, King of Britain, d. 1910
"All my possessions for a moment of time."
- Elizabeth I, Queen of England, d. 1603
"I've never felt better."
- Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., actor, d. December 12, 1939
"I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring."
- Richard Feynman, physicist, d. 1988
"I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it."
- Errol Flynn, actor, d. October 14, 1959
"I know you have come to kill me. Shoot coward, you are only going to kill a man."
Facing his assassin, Mario Teran, a Bolivian soldier.
~~ Ernesto "Che" Guevara, d. October 9, 1967
"God will pardon me, that's his line of work."
~~ Heinrich Heine, poet, d. February 15, 1856
"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
From Luke 23:46
~~ Jesus Christ
"Why do you weep. Did you think I was immortal?"
~~ Louis XIV, King of France, d. 1715
"I am a Queen, but I have not the power to move my arms."
~~ Louise, Queen of Prussia, d. 1820
"Go on, get out - last words are for fools who haven't said enough."
To his housekeeper, who urged him to tell her his last words so she could write them down for posterity.
~~ Karl Marx, revolutionary, d. 1883
"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!"
~~ Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, (Archduke Maximilian of Austria), d. June 11, 1867
"Nothing matters. Nothing matters."
~~ Louis B. Mayer, film producer, d. October 29, 1957
"It's all been very interesting."
~~ Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, writer, d. 1762
"I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room - and God damn it - died in a hotel room."
~~ Eugene O'Neill, writer, d. November 27, 1953
"Get my swan costume ready."
~~ Anna Pavlova, ballerina, d. 1931
"I owe much; I have nothing; the rest I leave to the poor."
~~ François Rabelais, writer, d. 1553
"Put out the light."
~~ Theodore Roosevelt, US President, d. 1919
"Sister, you're trying to keep me alive as an old curiosity, but I'm done, I'm finished, I'm going to die."
Spoken to his nurse.
~~ George Bernard Shaw, playwright, d. November 2, 1950
"I feel certain that I'm going mad again. I feel we can't go thru another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices"
Suicide note
~~ Virginia Woolf, author, d. March 28, 1941
"God bless... God damn."
~~ James Thurber, humorist, d. 1961
"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something."
~~ Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary, d. 1923
"I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."
~~ Leonardo da Vinci, artist, d. 1519
"You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone dances with the Grim Reaper."
Executed in California's gas chamber.
~~ Robert Alton Harris, d. April 21, 1992
"Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."
~~ Oscar Wilde, writer, d. November 30, 1900
"I am ready."
~~ Woodrow Wilson, US President, d. 1924
"Such is Life"
Executed by hanging.
~~ Ned Kelly, Australian bushranger, d. 1880
"It's very beautiful over there."
(Suffering from re-occuring pneumonia and semi-unconscious, his wife, Mina, ask "Are your suffering?" to which he replied, "No, just waiting." Then looked out of his bedroom window and softly spoke his last words.)
- Thomas A Edison
"Never felt better."
(Became ill after returning from a USC-UCLA football game. A doctor prescribed bed rest, a restricted diet, and nursing care. After sleeping most of the next morning, his nurse asked, "How are you?")
- Douglas Fairbanks
"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 David Eisenhower
"It's very beautiful over there."
(Suffering from re-occuring pneumonia and semi-unconscious, his wife, Mina, ask "Are your suffering?" to which he replied, "No, just waiting." Then looked out of his bedroom window and softly spoke his last words.)
- Thomas A Edison
"KHAQQ calling Itasca. We must be on you, but cannot see you. Gas is running low."
(After taking off from New Guinea, her plane mysteriously disappeared.)
- Amelia Earhart
". . . the fog is rising"
(After lapsing in and out of consciousness for several days suffering from kidney disease.)
- Emily Dickinson
"That guy's got to stop. . . . He'll see us."
(James died in an automoblie accident.)
- James Dean
"I am not the least afraid to die."
(Speaking to his son.)
- Charles Darwin
"It was a great game."
(After completing a round of golf at the La Moraleja Golf Course near Madrid, Spain.)
- Bing Crosby
"I have tried so hard to do right."
(Refering to his two unpopular terms as President.)
- Grover Cleveland
"Why not? After all, it belongs to him."
(Responding to a priest who said "May the Lord have mercy on your soul.")
- Charles Chaplin
“Is everybody happy? I want everybody to be happy. I know I'm happy.”
- Ethel Barrymore, actress, d. June 18, 1959
"Josephine..."
- Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor, May 5, 1821
"Now I shall go to sleep. Goodnight."
- Lord George Byron, writer, d. 1824