Last words - Definition and Overview

For sarcastic or humourous phrases characterised as "famous last words," not actual dying quotes, see the article Famous last words (sarcasm).

This article is a list of famous last words, actual phrases attributed to persons near death, sage enough, inspirational or in some way memorable in history. For many so-called "last words" other versions exist, though only the better-phrased have become "canonical".

List of famous last words

A – M

• Ludwig van Beethoven, 18th century German composer:

"I shall hear in heaven."

• Millard Fillmore, thirteenth U.S. president, upon being fed some soup on his deathbed:

"The nourishment is palatable."

• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 19th century poet, novelist, playwright, scientist and thinker:

"Light! More light!"

• Nathan Hale, before being executed:

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."¹

• Henrik Ibsen, after his housekeeper told a guest he was feeling better:

"On the contrary!"

• James Lawrence,

"Tell the men to fire faster and not to give up the ship; fight her till she sinks." His last words are often simply shortened to "Don't give up the ship."

• Robert E. Lee,

"Strike the tent."

• Karl Marx, on his deathbed, to his housekeeper who had just asked if he had any last words:

"Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!"

• Breaker Morant, on facing a firing squad:

"Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!"

N – Z

• Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

"Kiss me, Hardy."²

• Arthur Flegenheimer ("Dutch Schultz"):

"A boy has never wept nor dashed a thousand kim... French Canadian bean soup... The bears are in trouble and the sidewalks are in trouble..."

• John Sedgwick, Union General shortly before being shot by a sharpshooter:

"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist—"

• Tom Simpson, British cyclist, died during the Tour de France on the Mont Ventoux:

"Put me back on the bloody bike"!

• Socrates:

"Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius; will you remember to pay the debt?"

• Arthur Thistlewood, before his execution:

"I shall soon know the grand secret."

• Vincent Van Gogh,

"La tristesse durera toujours."

• Pancho Villa,

"Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something."

• George Washington,

"I am just going. Have me decently buried, and do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am dead. Do you understand? ...'Tis well."

• Oscar Wilde,

"My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go"

Notes

¹These words are actually from Joseph Addison's Cato. While it is possible Hale decided to "go out" with a literary quotation, it is more probable that his actual last words were "It is the duty of every good officer to obey any orders given him by his commander-in-chief."
²These are the last words traditionally attributed to Nelson (or in an alternative version "Kismet, Hardy"). Historians now believe that his last words were "Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my duty. Drink, drink. Fan, fan. Rub, rub." See Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson#Last words.