The Most Famous Famous Last Words
The Most Famous Famous Last Words
Few of us get the chance to be immortalized in the moment right before death occurs. For most people, death is a quiet affair that involves healthcare professionals and maybe a few loved ones—we want it to be peaceful and dignified, and those are the only real considerations.
However, when your life is one of fame, historical or political importance, and/or literary success, the whole world tunes in to hear the last bit of wisdom you will ever share with the world. These famous quotations not only capture the personalities and beliefs of those who said them, but also share what it means to be human and leaving the only world that all of us know.
- Alexander Hamilton (Politician, 1804): “This is a mortal wound, doctor.”
- Charles Frohman (Theater Producer, 1915): “Why fear death? It’s life’s greatest adventure.”
- David Bowie (Musician, 2016): “Music has been the doorway of perception and the house that I live in.”
- Eugene O’Neill (Playwright, 1953): “I knew it! I knew it! Born in a hotel room and, goddamn it, dying in a hotel room.”
- Frida Kahlo (Artist, 1954): “I hope the exit is joyful and hope never to return.”
- Groucho Marx (Comedian and Actor, 1977): “This is no way to live.”
- Jack Daniel (Distiller, 1911): “One last drink, please.”
- Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer, 1750): “Don’t cry for me, for I go where music is born.”
- John Quincy Adams (Politician, 1848): “This is the last of earth. I am content!”
- Leonard Nimoy (Actor, 2015): “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.”
- Leonardo da Vinci (Inventor and Artist, 1519): “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.”
- Nostradamus (Philosopher and Seer, 1566): “Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here.”
- P. T. Barnum (Circus Showman, 1891): “Nancy, I want you to know my last thoughts are of you.”
- Spike Milligan (Comedian, 2005): “I told you I was ill.”
- Thomas Edison (Inventor, 1931): “It’s very beautiful over there.”
- Winston Churchill (Politician, 1965): “I’m bored with it all.”
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