John Adams – died July 4, 1826: “Thomas Jefferson–still survives…” (or perhaps … “Thomas Jefferson … lives<\/i>…” There are enough eyewitness accounts to believe that he said something along those lines.)<\/p>\n
On the exact same day, Thomas Jefferson died. He began slipping in and out of a coma. At one point, on July 3, he woke up and said, “Is it the Fourth?” He died the next day.<\/p>\n
Ethan Allen, American Revolutionary general, died in 1789, and was told by his doctor, “General, I fear the angels are waiting for you.” Ethan Allen responded, “Waiting are they? Waiting are they? Well–let ’em wait.” Those were his last words.<\/p>\n
Lady Nancy Astor, fell very ill, and woke up, to find her entire family standing around her bed. She said, “Am I dying or is this my birthday?” These were her last words.<\/p>\n
James Joyce apparently said, as his last words, “Does nobody understand?” I don’t seem to recall this fact being told in the Ellmann biography, though, so it may not be true. No, Jim, nobody really does understand – but your work will live on regardless. Genius lives. Understanding is over-rated.<\/p>\n
Tallulah Bankhead, wild-woman actress, died in 1968. Her last words were, “Codeine . . . bourbon.”<\/p>\n
P. T. Barnum, died in 1891. His last words were, “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?”<\/p>\n
I think my favorite might be Beethoven’s last words: “Friends applaud, the comedy is finished.” Jesus. Amazing.<\/p>\n
Humphrey Bogart’s last words are almost TOO perfect. “I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.” Classic.<\/p>\n
Napoleon died, murmuring, “Josephine … Josephine …”<\/p>\n
Dominique Bouhours, who was one of those strict hard-nosed French grammarians, died in 1702. Last words were: “I am about to — or I am going to — die: either expression is correct.” (hahahahahahahahahahahaha)<\/p>\n
Tacitus tells us that Caligula, who was stabbed to death by his own guards in 41 AD, had as his last words the following scream: “I am still alive!”<\/p>\n
Louise, Queen of Prussia, who died in 1820, faced the harsh realities in her last moments, and said, before dying, “I am a Queen, but I have not the power to move my arms.”<\/p>\n
Chekhov’s last words are also a personal favorite of mine. They seem to encapsulate exactly what I love about his writing, his outlook on life: “I am dying. I haven’t drunk champagne for a long time.”<\/p>\n
Chopin’s last words are horrific. He died of tuberculosis. His last words are: “The earth is suffocating . . . Swear to make them cut me open, so that I won’t be buried alive.” A terrible death.<\/p>\n
Very different from Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s last words. Her husband asked her how she felt. She replied, “Beautiful” and died.<\/p>\n
Winston’s Churchill’s last words before slipping into a coma were: “I’m bored with it all.” 9 days after saying that, he died.<\/p>\n
Joan Crawford was on her death-bed. Her housekeeper started to pray out loud to God. Joan Crawford snapped, “Damn it . . . Don’t you dare ask God to help me.” Then Mommie Dearest died.<\/p>\n
Karl Marx died in 1883. As he lay dying, his housekeeper apparently raced in with a pad of paper, and hovered over him, waiting, literally waiting for him to die, so that she could write down his last words for posterity. Marx barked at her, “Go on, get out – last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.”<\/p>\n
Teddy Roosevelt said, bluntly, “Put out the light.” and then died.<\/p>\n
Charles Darwin, unsurprisingly, stated, “I am not the least afraid to die.” And then promptly died.<\/p>\n
(It’s incredible how people reveal themselves so completely in these intimate vulnerable last moments.)<\/p>\n
I find Edison’s last words so comforting, so mysterious. I wonder what it was he saw: “It is very beautiful over there.”<\/p>\n
Eugene O’Neill’s last words, which hold a world of grief and loss, were, “I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room – and God damn it – died in a hotel room.”<\/p>\n
Edmund Gwenn, an actor in the 30s and 40s (Miracle on 34th Street, Life with Father<\/i>, a couple of Lassie films) said, when someone asked him if it was “tough” facing death: “Yes, it’s tough, but not as tough as doing comedy.” Then he died. God bless him.<\/p>\n
Victor Hugo said, as his last words before death, something which chills me, “I see black light.” Maybe he saw a “darkling plain”.<\/p>\n
Boris Pasternak died saying the following, and I know it’s uncompassionate of me, but I find his last words rather comical: “Good-bye . . . why am I hemorrhaging?”<\/p>\n
Anna Pavlova, one of the most famous ballerinas who ever lived, said before she died, in 1931, “Get my swan costume ready.”<\/p>\n
General John Sedgwick, Union Commander in the Civil War, was killed in battle in 1864, saying, “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist. . . .”<\/p>\n
A relatively famous (and comi-tragic) one is the last words of Dylan Thomas, who reportedly said, “I’ve had eighteen straight whiskies, I think that’s the record . . .”<\/p>\n
This next one cracks my heart in two. If he only knew. Leonardo DaVinci’s last words were, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.”<\/p>\n
Oscar Wilde’s might be the most famous of all, and for good reason. “Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.” Clearly, the wallpaper stayed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John Adams – died July 4, 1826: “Thomas Jefferson–still survives…” (or perhaps … “Thomas Jefferson … lives…” There are enough eyewitness accounts to believe that he said something along those lines.) On the exact same day, Thomas Jefferson died. He … Continue reading