List of last words
Last words or final words are a person's final articulated words, stated prior to death or as death approaches. Last words may not necessarily be written down or accurately recorded, and they may not be quoted accurately for a variety of reasons.
Famous last words include literal utterings such as the sayings of Jesus on the cross, "Et tu, Brute?" from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and the ironic sense of words said before a disaster, such as:
- "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!" General John Sedgwick at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House immediately before being killed by enemy fire.
- "Let all brave Prussians follow me!" Field Marshal Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin at the Battle of Prague, immediately before being hit in the head by a cannonball.
- "Don't worry about it... look, the clip isn't even in it." Terry Kath of the band Chicago, just before putting a pistol to his temple and pulling the trigger.
Chronological list of last words
Pre-5th century
;"Let me die with the Philistines.";"Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me."
;"All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness."
;"Heaven has turned against me. No wise ruler arises, and no one in the Empire wishes to make me his teacher. The hour of my death has come."
;"For, no Athenian, through my means, ever wore mourning."
;"To the strongest."
;"Don't disturb my circles!"
;"Let us ease the Roman people of their continual care, who think it long to await the death of an old man."
;"You too, my child?"
;"There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly."
;"So here it is!"
;"The drama's over. Applaud."
;"It is finished."
;"Late! That's fidelity!"
;"Woe, I think I'm turning into a god... An emperor should die on his feet."
;"I am making my last effort to return that which is divine in me to that which is divine in the Universe."
5th to 15th centuries
;"And me as I am going towards the God of mine, and I thank His name, as the Lord gave me everything bless His name. And I am telling you, to stand firm on your faith and to search for death for Christ for His name and you will find the permanent glory. I for my life glorified you and all of our race. And do not insult our home and do not abandon the love of the Greeks.";"Oh God, the Friend Most High!"
;"Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit."
;"I have loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore I die in exile."
;"I don't know."
;"For the name of Jesus and the protection of the church I am ready to embrace death."
;"Let not my end disarm you, and on no account weep or keen for me, lest the enemy be warned of my death."
;"Don't cut my face."
;"I have not told half of what I saw."
;"Now, God be with you, my dear children. I have breakfasted with you and shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ."
;"Make my skin into drumheads for the Bohemian cause."
16th century
;"Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.";"I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."
;"Happy."
;"I am curious to see what happens in the next world to one who dies unshriven."
;"Mine eyes desire thee only. Farewell."
;"We are beggars, this is true."
;"Bring down the curtain, the farce is played out."
;"Now I'm oiled. Keep me from the rats."
;"I'm still learning."
;"Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here."
17th century
;"May I not seem to have lived in vain.";"All my possessions for a moment of time."
;"All right then, I'll say it. Dante makes me sick."
;"I, feeble and of small virtue, have offended against Heaven; the rebels have seized my capital because my ministers deceived me. Ashamed to face my ancestors, I die. Removing my imperial cap and with my hair disheveled about my face, I leave to the rebels the dismemberment of my body. Let them not harm my people!"
;"I bless the Lord that he gave me counsel."
;"I shall have to ask leave to desist, when I am interrupted by so great an experiment as dying."
;"A great leap in the dark."
;"Take me, for I come to Thee."
18th century
;"I am about to—or I am going to—die; either expression is correct.";"I am leaving, but the State shall always remain."
;"Don't be afraid."
;"See in what peace a Christian can die."
;"I don’t know what I may seem to the world. But as to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than the ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."
;"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!"
;"No, not quite naked. I shall have my uniform on."
;"Oh Lord! Forgive the errata!"
'' by Benjamin West.
;"Go, one of you, to Colonel Burton; tell him to march Webb's regiment down to Charles River, to cut off their retreat from the bridge. Now, God be praised, I will die in peace!"
;"It has all been most interesting."
;"Wait a second."
;"Give Dayrolles a chair."
;"I am very ill. Send for Zimmermann. In fact, I think I'll die today."
;"My friend, the artery ceases to beat."
;"Now is not the time for making new enemies."
;"Take me to the boats."
;"No, but comfortable enough to die."
;"I die."
;"I am tired of ruling over slaves."
;"We are all going to Heaven, and van Dyke is of the company."
;"Waiting, are they? Well—let 'em wait."
;"A dying man can do nothing easy."
;"I believe we shall adjourn this meeting to another place."
;"The taste of death is upon my lips... I feel something, that is not of this earth."
;"I feel sleepy, a short time of rest would do me good."
;"Don't let the awkward squad fire over me."
;"Water."
;"I have lived as a philosopher. I die as a Christian."
;"'Tis well. I die hard, but I am not afraid to go."
19th century
;"Remember, my Eliza, you are a Christian.", painted by Denis Dighton, c. 1825.
;"Thank God, I have done my duty."
;"I think I could eat one of Bellamy's veal pies."
;"I die happy."
;"Je suis toute à vous"
;"I am not coward, but I am so strong. It is hard to die."
;"I am a queen, but I have not the power to move my arms."
;"Oh!"
;"Don't give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks."
;"I want nothing but death."
;"That is surprising, since I have been practicing all night."
;"Nostitz, you have learned many a thing from me. Now you are to learn how peacefully a man can die."
;"I am mortally wounded … I think."
;"France, the army, the head of the army, Joséphine."
;"Let not my body be sent to England. Here let my bones molder. Lay me in the first corner without pomp or nonsense."
;"Is it the Fourth?"
;"Thomas Jefferson survives."
;"Pity, pity - too late!"
;"Napoleon was a great man and a great general. He conquered armies and he conquered nations. But he couldn't jump the Genesee Falls. Wellington was a great man and a great soldier. He conquered armies and he conquered Napoleon, but he couldn't jump the Genesee Falls. That was left for me to do, and I can do it and will!"
;"Fuck, a bullet wound!"
;"Well, I've had a happy life."
;"How do I get out of this labyrinth!"
;"I regret that I should leave this world without again beholding him."
;"Only one man ever understood me. And he really didn't understand me."
;"Please open the second window of the bedroom so that more light can enter."
;"Nurse, it was I who discovered leeches have red blood."
;"My mind is quite unclouded. I could even be witty."
;"Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear."
;"Thank you—but don't kiss me; it is the sweat of death. I am dying, and it's for the best."
;"Try to be forgotten. Go live in the country. Stay in mourning for two years, then remarry, but choose somebody decent."
;"Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more."
;"Magellan, Magellan!"
;"Oh Lord My God..."
;"What is the matter with my dear children? Have I alarmed you? Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we will all meet in Heaven."
;"Peace! Joy!"
;"This is the last of Earth. I am content."
;"If you will send for a doctor I will see him now."
;"Take courage, Charlotte; take courage."
;"I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you."
;"Lord, help my poor soul."
;"Not yet."
;"The South! The poor South! God knows what will become of her."
;"I regret nothing, but I am sorry to leave my friends."
;"'I still live."
;"Teixeira? If I am in danger, tell me; do not deceive me."
;"I fear we are in a mess."
;"I no longer see you."
;"Oh, I am not going to die, am I? He will not separate us. We have been so happy."
;"Do not kill me! I did not come to fight you!"
;"God will pardon me. That's his line of work."
;"What an irreparable loss!"
;"Comfort my Peter."
;"No noise, no music, no bohemia!"
;"It is beautiful."
;"Perhaps it is best."
;"Now comes good sailing. Moose...Indian."
;"There is but one reliance."
;"Order A.P. Hill to prepare for action! Pass the infantry to the front rapidly! Tell Major Hawks.... Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."
;"Forward men forward for God's sake and drive those fellows out of those woods."
;"Congestion. Stopped."
;"Why are you dodging like this? They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"
;"Lay me down, and save the flag!"
, a Confederate nationalist, while unsuspectingly watching a stageplay. Lincoln had recently fought and won a civil war against the Confederate States.
;"She won't think anything about it."
;"Tell mother, tell mother, I died for my country...useless...useless..."
;"And now with my latest writing and utterance, and with what will be near my latest breath, I here repeat and would willingly proclaim my unmitigated hatred to yankee rule--to all political, social and business connections with Yankees, and the perfidious, malignant and vile Yankee race."
;"That's Article 98; now go on to the next."
;"Ah, Luisa, you always arrive just as I am leaving."
' study of the Fetterman Fight, early 21st century.
;"Give me 80 men and I'll ride through the whole Sioux nation."
;"I do not have to forgive my enemies. I have had them all shot."
;"Oh, Lord God Almighty, as thou wilt!"
;"I die for my homeland."
;"Yes. On the ground."
;"Tell Hill he must come up! Strike the tent!"
;"The nourishment is palatable."
;"Oh, do not cry. Be good children, and we shall meet in heaven."
;"Farewell, the martyrdom is no more!"
;"Tell them I have a great pain in my left side."
;"So this is death … well … "
;"Who is it? Who is it?"
, right after being shot by Charles J. Guiteau
;"Oh, Swaim, this terrible pain. Oh, Swaim. Oh, Swaim, can't you stop this?"
;"I can't see a damned thing."
;"I am not the least afraid to die."
;"Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!"
;"Am I spitting blood?"
;"This is the fight of day and night. I see black light."
;"Water."
;"It doesn't seem to go!"
;"I have had no real gratification or enjoyment of any sort more than my neighbor on the next block who is worth only half a million."
;"I must go in, for the fog is rising."
;"Now comes the mystery."
;"Damn. This is funny."
;"Is it not meningitis?"
;"Pray, excuse me"
;"A little while and I will be gone from among you. Whither I cannot tell. From nowhere we came, into nowhere we go. What is life? It is a flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."
.
;"I am not going. Do with me what you like. I am not going. Come on! Come on! Take action! Let's go!"
;"How were the circus receipts today at Madison Square Garden?"
;"God Bless Captain Vere!"
;"May God grant me these last wishes—peace and prosperity for Brazil."
;"Warry, shift!"
;"I know I am going where Lucy is."
;"What's that? Do I look strange?"
;"I want to get mumbo-jumbo out of the world."
;"Ah, that tastes nice. Thank you."
;"No, Bill, I've got too much Georgia grit for that."
;"Take away these pillows, I won't need them any longer."
;"I am imploring you – burn all the indecent poems and drawings."
;"Sergeant, the Spanish bullet isn't made that will kill me."
; "My God, don't shoot!"
;"House."
;"Keep up the fire, men."
;"My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go."
20th century
;"Bertie.";"Are the doctors here? Doctor, my lungs..."
at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.
;"Goodbye, all, goodbye. It is God's way. His will be done."
;"So little done, so much to do."
;"Have you brought the chequebook, Alfred?"
;"It's a long time since I drank champagne."
;"On the contrary!"
;"Doctor, you have science, I have faith."
;"In spite of it all, I am going to sleep; put out the lights."
;"I have tried so hard to do right."
;"I am about the extent of a tenth of a gnat's eyebrow better."
;"Never again allow a woman to hold the supreme power in the State... be careful not to allow eunuchs to meddle in government affairs."
;"Cut 'er loose, Doc!"
;"Give me my glasses."
;"Yes, I have heard of it. I am very glad."
;"Pull up the shades; I don't want to go home in the dark."
;"Higher. Always higher."
;"To die this way is stupid... And it would please so many scoundrels!… This very night, Magalhães, I could have died for the Republic!"
;"But the peasants...how do the peasants die?"
;"Mozart!"
;"Put your hands on my shoulders and don't struggle."
;"Here I go."
;"One last drink, please."
.
;"I am just going outside and may be some time."
;"The ladies have to go first.... Get in the lifeboat, to please me.... Good-bye, dearie. I'll see you later."
;"Well boys, do your best for the women and children, and look out for yourselves."
;"Swing low, sweet chariot."
by a group of nationalists. This was the first event in a series that triggered World War I.
;"It is nothing... it is nothing..."
;"Hullo."
;"Why fear death? Death is only a beautiful adventure."
;"Well, they have got us. They are a damn sight worse than I ever thought they were."
;"There does not seem to be anything to do."
;"Put that bloody cigarette out!"
;"Please put out that light, James."
;"Goodbye, until Heaven!"
;"Now we can cross the Shifting Sands."
;"Never mind, it is good to die for our country."
;"I'm all right; tell Mays not to worry... ring....Katie's ring."
;"Some day, when things look real tough for Notre Dame, ask the boys to go out there and win one for the Gipper."
;"No."
;"I thought this was the most beautiful spot in the world, and now I know it."
;"That's good. Go on, read some more."
;"Good dog."
;"When the machinery is broken... I am ready."
;"Kill me, or else you are a murderer!"
;"You're too slow...too slow."
;"I don't feel good."
;"Farewell, my friends. I go to glory!"
;"Sky deep blue, sun very bright, sand all gone."
;"What's the news?"
;"Me mudder did it."
;"The prettier. Now fight for it."
;"Everything's gone wrong, my girl."
;"So long...Good-bye..."
;"It's very beautiful over there."
;"To my friends / My work is done / Why wait? / G.E."
;"Goodbye, everybody!"
;"Curtain! Fast music! Lights! Ready for the last finale! Great! The show looks good. The show looks good."
;"Good morning, Robert."
;"Why should I talk to you? I've just been talking to your boss."
;"So the beginning of the eighth day has dawned. It is still cool. I have no water....I am waiting patiently. Come soon please. Fever wracked me last night. Hope you get my full log. Bill."
;"I don't want it."
;"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."
;"I wonder why he shot me."
;"Mother is the best bet."
;"Give me the glasses."
;"God damn you!"
;"I think I'm going to make it."
;"Indeed – very good. I shall – have to repeat – that – on the Golden Floor."
;"All fled, all done So lift me on the pyre. The feast is over And the lamps expire."
;"I cannot go on."
;"I can't sleep."
;"We are running on line north and south."
;"I'm bored. I'm bored."
;"Watch out, please."
;"What time is it?"
;"I was going too fast for the conditions - it was entirely my own fault - I am sorry."
;"Never felt better."
;"I feel this time they have succeeded. I do not want them to undress me. I want you to undress me."
;"Does nobody understand?"
;"I don’t think two people could have been happier than we have been."
;"You heard me, Mike."
;"The bastards tried to come over me last night – I guess they didn't know I was a Marine."
;"Did they get off?"
;"Spade Flush."
;"I'm going down..."
;"I'm on fire."
;"I have a terrific headache."
;"Are you all right?"
;"Shoot me in the chest!"
.
;"Above all, I charge the leadership of the nation and their followers with the strict observance of the racial laws and with merciless resistance against the universal poisoners of all peoples, international Jewry."
;"I am Heinrich Himmler."
;"No. "
;"All planes close up tight... will have to ditch unless landfall... when the first plane drops to ten gallons, we all go down together."
;"Shakespeare, I come."
;"What is the answer? In that case, what is the question?"
;"Go away. I'm all right."
;"God protect Germany. God have mercy on my soul. My final wish is that Germany should recover her unity and that, for the sake of peace, there should be understanding between East and West. I wish peace to the world."
;"Heil Hitler, this is my Purim Fest in 1946! I am going to God. The Bolsheviks will hang you one day!"
;"God damn the whole fuckin’ world and everyone in it but you, Carlotta."
;"You ass-face!"
;"The object is directly ahead of and above me now, moving at about half my speed... It appears to be a metallic object or possibly reflection of Sun from a metallic object, and it is of tremendous size... I'm still climbing... I'm trying to close in for a better look."
;"Oh God!"
;"I'm going over the valley."
;"Frenzy hath seized thy dearest son, / Who from thy shores in glory came / The first in valor and in fame; / Thy deeds that he hath done / Seem hostile all to hostile eyes.... / Better to die, and sleep / The never waking sleep, than linger on, / And dare to live, when the soul's life is gone."
;"At fifty, everyone has the face he deserves."
;"This is it! I'm going. I'm going."
;"Say goodbye to my wife and kids."
;"I'm finished. I don't even trust myself."
at Boston University, formerly the Sheraton Hotel where Eugene O'Neill died.
;"I knew it! Born in a goddamned hotel room, and dying in a hotel room."
;"Doctor, do you think it could have been the sausage?"
;"I want to go when I want. It is tasteless to prolong life artificially. I have done my share, it is time to go. I will do it elegantly."
;"That guy's gotta stop... He'll see us."
;"I'm glad to sit on the back row, for I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty."
;"No. Thanks for everything."
;"75-Hotel. I'm going into the water."
;"There she goes!"
;"Goodbye, kid. Hurry back."
;" a midair collision - midair collision, 10 How we are going in-uncontrollable - uncontrollable - we are...we've had it boy - poor jet too - told you we should take chutes - say goodbye to everybody."
;"Mind your business!"
;"No.... Awfully jolly of you to suggest it, though."
;"I wish to announce the first plank in my campaign for reelection...we're going to have the floors in this goddamned hospital smoothed out!"
;"I think I'll be more comfortable."
;"I'm tired. I'm going back to bed."
;"Are you happy? I'm happy."
;"These guys are supposed to be American? My ass!"
;"Dying is easy. Comedy is difficult."
;"I've had a hell of a lot of fun and I've enjoyed every minute of it."
;"Oh God, here I go."
;"He is safe! He is safe! Oh, joy!"
;"Why am I hemorrhaging?"
;"I'm dizzy!"
;"I am so bored."
;"Too much pain....Do something, please...to kill the pain."
;"Goodnight my kitten."
;"God bless … God damn."
;"Remember, honey, don’t forget what I told you. Put in my coffin a deck of cards, a mashie niblick, and a pretty blonde."
;"I'm going to stop now, but I'm going to sharpen the ax before I put it up, dear."
;"Yes."
;"Homage to Amitābha Buddha."
;"All the damn fool things you do in life you pay for."
;"No, you certainly can't."
;"10-4."
;"I will be glad to discuss this proposition with my attorney, and that after I talk with one, we could either discuss it with him or discuss it with my attorney if the attorney thinks it is a wise thing to do, but at the present time I have nothing more to say to you."
;"You made one mistake. You married me."
;"Am I dying or is this my birthday?"
;"My God, Ned, help me! I'm on fire!"
;"I am sorry to trouble you chaps. I don't know how you get along so fast with the traffic on the road these days."
;"I'm bored with it all."
;"Brothers! Brothers, please! This is a house of peace!"
;"I've got to get out!"
;"Dying is a very dull, dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing whatever to do with it."
;"Why can't I give up at last?"
;"Final ILS two four."
;"Do you know where I can get any shit?"
;"Emerg—"
;"Ron Miller \ \ Kirt Russell \ CIA - Mobley"
;"The water's dark green and I can't see a bloody thing. Hallo the bow is up. I'm going. I'm on my back. I'm gone."
;"How are we going to get to the moon if we can't talk between two or three buildings?"
;"On! On! On!"
;"Mayday, Mayday! This is NASA 922, ejecting just off Orlando...I mean Tallahassee!"
;"I know you are here to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man."
;"I'm in a spin."
;"I know this beach like the back of my hand."
;"Never again, never again."
;"Codeine... bourbon."
, site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.
;"Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."
;"Don't lift me."
;"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."
;"I feel pain here."
;"Human life is limited; but I would like to live forever."
;"You see, this is how you die."
;"Dear world, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool — good luck."
;"Send Mike immediately."
;"Good night my darlings. I'll see you tomorrow."
;"Drink to me."
;"It is stuffy, sticky, and rainy here at present – but forecasts are more favourable."
;"Throw it, just throw it."
;"My dear, before you kiss me good-bye, fix your hair. It's a mess."
;"In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood and guts and in living color, you are going to see another first - an attempted suicide."
;"You can't kill this tough Jew."
;"We are holding our own."
;"Oh God! No! Help! Someone help!"
;"I feel ill. Call the doctors."
;"TV four just lost -"
;"I'm going to the bathroom to read."
;"This is no way to live!"
;"That was a great game of golf, fellas. Let's get a Coke."
;"Why not? After all, it belongs to him."
;"What do you think I'm gonna do? Blow my brains out?"
;"This is it, baby."
;"It's not an aircraft...it's....."
;"All stop."
;"Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub."
;"Are you guys okay?"
;"One never knows the ending. One has to die to know exactly what happens after death, although Catholics have their hopes."
;"Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!"
;"I'm shot! I'm shot!"
;"Money can't buy life."
;"Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case. Now what?"
;"Just don't leave me alone."
;"I am going."
;"Mother, I'm going to get my things and get out of this house. Father hates me and I'm never coming back."
;"It's... the end!"
;"I have a problem, I have a real problem."
;"Uh oh."
;"Don't, don't, don't, this will hurt someone. Sit down."
;"Where is my clock?"
;"I'm begging you, let me work!"
;"Ah, shit."
;"I don't want to lay down."
;"What is this?"
;"Ow, fuck!"
;"Will it be an interesting experience? Will I find out what lies beyond the barrier? Why does it take so long to come?"
;"Don't worry. Relax."
;"Thank you."
;"Okay, okay, okay."
;"I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!"
;"It's better to burn out than to fade away."
;"Help."
;"The car seems OK..."
;"I'm really, really sorry. The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist... depressed... without phone... money for rent... money for child support... money for debts... money!!!... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings & corpses & anger & pain... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners... I have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky."
;"Yolanda...158."
;"You only live so long."
;"Mom, do you hear the rain? Do you hear the rain? Mom, I just want to take off in the plane."
;"I love you. Sleep well, my sweetheart. Please don't worry too much."
;"Why? Why not?"
;"This is for you!"
;"Fuck you."
;"My God, what's happened?"
;"Do you have it now?"
;"And where do you come from?"
;"Please don't leave me."
;"I'm losing it."
;"I'll finally get to see Marilyn."
;"Oooh, the Godfather, just saying his name makes my blue blood boil. OHHH! The Godfather, my arch nemesis, he represents everything that's wrong with the WWF. But fear not, because I, the Blue Blazer, will always triumph over evil doers, and you know why, because I always take my vitamins, say my prayers, and drink my milk, WHOOO!"
21st century
;"Okay, just wondering.";"Are you guys ready? Let's roll!"
;"It was the food!"
;"Channel 5 is all shit, isn't it? Christ, the crap they put on there. It's a waste of space."
;"Leave me alone, I'm fine."
.
;"Surprise me."
;"I should have been a concert pianist."
;"Jeb. Just remember, whatever happens, happens."
;"Thank you."
;"What are you shooting at?! I'm Pat Tillman! I'm Pat fucking TILLMAN!"
;"My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne. I have a brother and sister, David and Sara. I live in West Chester, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia."
;"I look forward to taking that off."
;"Let me go to the house of the Father."
;"You're a lifesaver, Andy."
;"Roger that, sir. Thank you."
;"I'm dying."
the day before the accident.
;"C'mon. Let's get this day over and done with."
;"Lucy."
;"I'm going away tonight."
.
;"Let me have some milk."
;"I'm the happiest man in the world. I've just summited a beautiful mountain."
;"Thanks for your help. Have a great day."
;"Stopping for a beer, be there when I can."
;"Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow."
;"I'm ready to go for this thing; we can win this thing."
;"Capitalism... Downfall."
;"I'm going to go and see Jesus."
;"I called you a putz cause I thought you intentionally disingenuous. If not I apologize. @CenLamar @dust92"
;"I don't want to die, please don't let me die."
;"Hey, let's go for a drive."
;"I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe."
;
;"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP"
;"Has been my doorway of perception and the house that I live in."
;"I want to be with Carrie."
;"Judges! Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal, with disdain, I reject this verdict. I have taken poison."
;"I wouldn't know how to land it. I wasn't really planning on landing it."
;"God bless. Take care of my boy, Roy."
;"I love you, too."
;"As no document mentions me and no indication or evidence reaches me, they only have SPECULATION or invent intermediaries. I never sold myself and it's proven."
;"I mean, hey, two wrongs don't make a right, you know..."
;"I can't fix myself."
;"Nearly 100 frank opinions every day. I couldn't deny they hurt me. "Die", "you are disgusting", "you should disappear" I believed these things about myself more than they did. Thank you, Mother, for the gift of life. My whole life I wanted to be loved. Thank you to everyone who supported me. I love you all. I'm sorry for being weak."
;"My stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts... Man, I can't breathe."
Last words of people sentenced to death
- John André, British Army officer, prior to being hanged as a spy by the Continental Army: "I pray you to bear me witness that I meet my fate like a brave man."
- Jean Sylvain Bailly, French astronomer, mathematician and politician, to a heckler who asked if he was trembling as he approached the guillotine: "Oui mon ami, mais c'est de froid.".
- Lena Baker: "What I done, I did in self-defense, or I would have been killed myself. Where I was I could not overcome it. God has forgiven me. I have nothing against anyone. I picked cotton for Mr. Pritchett, and he has been good to me. I am ready to go. I am one in the number. I am ready to meet my God. I have a very strong conscience."
- Arshadu'd-Dawla, before being executed for involvement in a plot to restore Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar to the Persian throne: "Zindabad Muhammad Ali Shah!"
- Arthur Gary Bishop: "I want to offer again my most profound and heartfelt apologies to my victims' families. I am truly sorry. I have tried my best to empathize with their grief and devastation and I hope they come to know of my concerns and prayers for them."
- Black Caesar, nicknamed after the eponymous pirate and one of the first convicts transported in Australia by the British Empire, escaped the penal colony in 1789 and lived as a bushranger in the wilderness. He survived by raiding garden patches with a stolen gun. When he was eventually caught, according to colonial governor David Collins, he was "so indifferent about meeting death, that he declared in confinement that if he should be hanged he would create a laugh before he was turned off, by playing some trick upon the executioner."
- Dmitry Bogrov, before being executed for assassination of the Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin: "Should I lift my head a bit?"
- Anne Boleyn: "Oh God, have pity on my soul. Oh God, have pity on my soul."
- Jerome Bowden: "My name is Jerome Bowden, and I would just like to state that my execution is about to be carried out. And I would like to thank the people at this institution for taking such good care of me in the way that they did. And I hope that by my execution being carried out, that it may bring some light to this thing that is wrong. And I would like to have a final prayer with Chaplain Lizzel if that is possible. Thank you very much."
- John Brown: "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done."
- Ted Bundy: "Give my love to my family and friends."
- Edith Cavell, the British nurse executed on 12 October 1915 in German-occupied Belgium because of having helped Allied soldiers escape to the then neutral Netherlands, spoke on the night before her execution to Reverend Stirling Gahan, the Anglican chaplain who had been allowed to see her and to give her Holy Communion, and said: "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." These words are inscribed on her statue in St Martin's Place, near Trafalgar Square in London. Her final words to the German Lutheran prison chaplain, Paul Le Seur, were recorded as "Ask Father Gahan to tell my loved ones later on that my soul, as I believe, is safe, and that I am glad to die for my country."
- Charles I of England, asking for his executioner to await his signal before beheading him: "Stay for the sign."
- Erskine Childers: "Take a step or two closer, lads. It will be easier that way."
- Roger Keith Coleman: "An innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope America will realize the injustice of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have. My last words are to the woman I love. Love is eternal. My love for you will last forever. I love you, Sharon." In 2006, Coleman was later found to be truly guilty due to DNA evidence.
- Robert Charles Comer: "Go Raiders."
- Thomas Cranmer, alluding to : "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit...I see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."
- Thomas Cromwell: "I die in the traditional faith."
- Francis Crowley: "You sons of bitches. Give my love to Mother."
- Leon Czolgosz, assassin of President William McKinley: "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people—the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father."
- Georges Danton, prior to execution by guillotine: "Tu montreras ma tête au peuple. Elle en vaut la peine."
- Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, before being burned at the stake: "Pope Clement, Chevalier Guillaume de Nogaret, King Philip! I summon you to the Tribunal of Heaven before the year is out!"
- Charles Deen: "Goodbye, gentlemen, I am going now."
- Edgar Edwards: "I've been looking forward to this a lot!"
- Edward Ellis: "I just want everybody to know that I think the prosecutor and Bill Scott are some sorry s.o.bs."
- George Engel: "Hurrah for anarchy!"
- Mona Fandey: "Aku tak akan mati."
- Thomas de Mahy, marquis de Favras, upon reading his death warrant: "I see that you have made three spelling mistakes."
- Adolph Fischer: "This is the happiest moment of my life!"
- Murderer James French : "Everything's already been said."
- John Wayne Gacy: "Kiss my ass."
- Johnny 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."
- Kenneth Edward Gentry: "Thank the Lord for the past 14 years that have allowed me to grow as a man. To J.D.’s family, I am sorry for the suffering you have gone through the past 14 years. I hope you can get some peace tonight. To my family, I am happy to be going home to Jesus. Sweet Jesus, here I come. Take me home. I am going your way."
- Gary Gilmore: "Let's do it!", before being executed by firing squad. Gilmore is also oft-quoted as saying a few minutes earlier, as he walked past the Hi-Fi Murderers on his way to be executed was: "Adios, Pierre and Andrews. I'll be seeing you directly."
- Thomas J. Grasso: "I did not get my Spaghetti-Os. I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this."
- G.W. Green: "Lock and load. Let's do it, man."
- Roosevelt Green: "I am about to die for a murder I did not commit, that someone else committed... I love the Lord, and I hope that you all love him too and that God takes me into his kingdom, and goodbye, other."
- Irma Grese: "Schnell."
- Adolf Eichmann: "Long live Germany. Long live Argentina. Long live Austria. These are the three countries with which I have been most connected and which I will not forget. I greet my wife, my family and my friends. I am ready. We'll meet again soon, as is the fate of all men. I die believing in God."
- Charles J. Guiteau, assassin of President James A. Garfield, at the conclusion of reading his poem "I am Going to the Lordy" prior to his hanging: "Glory hallelujah! I am with the Lord, Glory, ready, go!"
- Donald Harding: Declined to make a final statement, but signaled the executioner to get started. His asphyxiation in the gas chamber took 11 minutes before death was finally confirmed, and Harding spent his last moments cursing Arizona's state attorney general Grant Woods and giving him the middle finger.
- Mata Hari: "It is unbelievable".
- Robert Alton Harris: "You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everyone dances with the grim reaper.".
- Joe Hill: When on November 19, 1915, Deputy Shettler, who led Joe Hill's firing squad, called out the sequence of commands preparatory to firing Joe Hill shouted, "Fire -- go on and fire!" Just prior to his execution, Hill had written to Bill Haywood, an IWW leader, saying, "Goodbye Bill. I die like a true blue rebel. Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize... Could you arrange to have my body hauled to the state line to be buried? I don't want to be found dead in Utah."
- Daryl Holton: "Two words, I do."
- John Huss: "O, holy simplicity!"
- Saddam Hussein recited the Shahada twice as he was executed, dying as he said "and Muhammad" in his second recitation.
- Joan of Arc, while she was burning at the stake: "Hold the cross high so I may see it through the flames!"
- Edward Earl Johnson: "I guess no one's going to call."
- Mohammad Jawad al Jaza’iri: "But we coped with the sadness, and we wait for death from one moment to the next."
- Habibullāh Kalakāni: "I have nothing to ask God, he has given me everything I desired. God has made me King."
- Wilhelm Keitel, after being sentenced to death for his role in the crimes of Nazi Germany, shouted "Deutschland über alles!"
- Ned Kelly: Allegedly, "Such is life."
- Louis XVI, king of France, speaking to his executioners: "Messieurs, je suis innocent de tout ce dont on m'inculpe. Je souhaite que mon sang que vous allez répandre ne retombe jamais sur la France."
- Marie Antoinette, queen of France, apologizing to her executioner for stepping on his foot: "Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l'ai pas fait exprès."
- Timothy McVeigh: Convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing, McVeigh chose "Invictus", an 1875 poem by the British poet William Ernest Henley, as the final statement prior to his execution.
- James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, to Jack Ketch, his executioner: "Do not hack me as you did my Lord Russell."
- Harry Morant, to his firing squad: "Shoot straight, you bastards. Don't make a mess of it!"
- Ronald Clark O'Bryan: "What is about to transpire in a few moments is wrong! However, we as human beings do make mistakes and errors. This execution is one of those wrongs yet doesn’t mean our whole system of justice is wrong. Therefore, I would forgive all who have taken part in any way in my death. Also, to anyone I have offended in any way during my 39 years, I pray and ask your forgiveness, just as I forgive anyone who offended me in any way. And I pray and ask God’s forgiveness for all of us respectively as human beings. To my loved ones, I extend my undying love. To those close to me, know in your hearts I love you one and all. God bless you all and may God’s best blessings be always yours. Ronald C. O’Bryan. P.S. During my time here, I have been treated well by all T.D.C. personnel."
- Saint John Ogilvie was hanged, drawn and quartered at Glasgow Cross on 10 March 1615, because of having preached the Catholic religion, then illegal in Scotland, and for refusing to pledge allegiance to King James. Ogilvie's last words were: "If there be here any hidden Catholics, let them pray for me, but the prayers of heretics I will not have."
- At his public execution, the murderer William Palmer is said to have looked at the trapdoor on the gallows and asked the hangman, "Are you sure it's safe?"
- Albert Parsons: "Will I be allowed to speak, O men of America? Let me speak, Sheriff Matson! Let the voice of the people be heard! O—"
- Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded in the Old Palace Yard at the Palace of Westminster on 29 October 1618. "Let us dispatch", he said to his executioner. "At this hour my ague comes upon me. I would not have my enemies think I quaked from fear." After he was allowed to see the axe that would behead him, he mused: "This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all diseases and miseries." According to many biographers – Raleigh Trevelyan, in his book Sir Walter Raleigh, for instance – Sir Walter's final words were: "Strike, man, strike!"
- James W. Rodgers: "I done told you my last request... a bulletproof vest."
- Madame Roland: "O Liberté, que de crimes on commet en ton nom!"
- Ronald Ryan: "God bless you, please make it quick."
- John William Rook: "Freedom. Freedom at last, man."
- Nicola Sacco: "Farewell, mother!"
- Bartolomeo Vanzetti: "I wish to forgive some people for what they are now doing to me."
- Socrates, just before his death by ingestion of poison hemlock which he was forced to drink as a death sentence: "Κρίτων, ἔφη, τῷ Ἀσκληπιῷ ὀφείλομεν ἀλεκτρυόνα· ἀλλὰ ἀπόδοτε καὶ μὴ ἀμελήσητε"
- John Spenkelink: "Capital punishment; them without the capital get the punishment."
- Mary Surratt: "Please don't let me fall."
- Elisabeth von Thadden, before her execution by the Nazi regime: "Setzen Sie ein Ende, o Gott, für alle unsere Leiden."
- John Thanos: "Adios."
- Karla Faye Tucker: "Yes sir, I would like to say to all of you-the Thornton Family and Jerry Dean's family that I am so sorry. I hope God will give you peace with this. Baby, I love you. Ron, give Peggy a hug for me. Everybody has been so good to me. I love all of you very much. I am going to be face to face with Jesus now. Warden Baggett, thank all of you so much. You have been so good to me. I love all of you very much. I will see you all when you get there. I will wait for you."
- William Tyndale, before being strangled and burned at the stake: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."
- Henry Wirz, referring to his noose: "This is too tight."
- Aileen Wuornos: "Yes, I would just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back, like Independence Day, with Jesus. June 6, like the movie. Big mother ship and all, I'll be back, I'll be back."
- Claus von Stauffenberg:""Long live our sacred Germany!" '' Before being executed by the Nazi's for his involvement in the failed July 20th Plot.
- Nathan Hale: “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” Before getting hung by the British for his invovment in the American Revolutionary War