List of last words
A person's last words, their final articulated words stated prior to death or as death approaches, are often recorded because of the decedent's fame, but sometimes because of interest in the statement itself. Last words may be recorded accurately, or, for a variety of reasons, may not. Reasons can include simple error or deliberate intent. Even if reported wrongly, putative last words can constitute an important part of the perceived historical records or demonstration of cultural attitudes toward death at the time.
Charles Darwin, for example, was reported to have disavowed his theory of evolution in favor of traditional religious faith at his death. This widely disseminated report served the interests of those who opposed Darwin's theory on religious grounds. However, the putative witness had not been at Darwin's deathbed or seen him at any time near the end of his life.
Cultural traditions around the world ascribe special significance to words uttered at or near death, but the form and content of reported last words may depend on cultural context. There is a tradition in Hindu and Buddhist cultures of an expectation of a meaningful farewell statement; Zen monks by long custom are expected to compose a poem on the spot and recite it with their last breath. In Western culture particular attention has been paid to last words which demonstrate deathbed salvation – the repentance of sins and affirmation of faith.
Chronological list of last words
In rising chronological order, with death date specified. If relevant, also the context of the words or the circumstances of death are specified. If there is controversy or uncertainty concerning a person's last words, this is described in footnotes. For additional suicide notes, see Suicide note.Pre-5th century
;"Wash me well, hold me to your breast, protect me from the earth your breast.";"Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him."
;"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."
;"My reputation carried me safe through Greece, but the envy it excited at home has been my ruin."
;"You know that during the long time I have been in the world, I have said and done many things; upon mature reflection, I find nothing of which I have cause to repent, excepting a case which I will now submit to your decision, that I may know whether I have acted properly or not.
;"On a certain occasion, I chanced to be one of three who sat in judgment on one of my own good friends, who, according to the laws, should have been punished with death. I was greatly embarrassed. One of two things was inevitable—either to violate the law or condemn my friend. After careful consideration, I devised this expedient. I delivered with such address all the most plausible arguments in behalf of the accused, that my two colleagues found no difficulty in acquitting him, and yet I, myself, condemned him to death without assigning any reason for my conduct. Thus I discharged two duties, those of friend and judge; yet I feel in my conscience something which makes me doubt whether my conduct was not criminal."
;"It is better to perish here than to kill all these poor beans."
;"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."
;"Can you turn rainy weather into dry?"
;"For, no Athenian, through my means, ever wore mourning."
;"Give the boys a holiday."
;"This to the fair Critias."
;"Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt."
;"Men, it is good for me to die on this spot, where honor bids me; but for you, yonder your path lies. Hurry and save yourselves before the enemy can close with us."
;"Then I die happy."
;"But Alexander, whose kindness to my mother, my wife, and my children I hope the gods will recompense, will doubtless thank you for your humanity to me. Tell him, therefore, in token of my acknowledgement, I give him this right hand."
;"How can the teeth of wild beasts hurt me, without consciousness?"
;"To the strongest."
;"Now, as soon as you please you may commence the part of Creon in the tragedy, and cast out this body of mine unburied. But, O gracious Neptune, I, for my part, while I am yet alive, arise up and depart out of this sacred place; though Antipater and the Macedonians have not left so much as thy temple unpolluted."
;"Ah! poor hump-back! thy many long years are at last conveying thee to the tomb; thou shalt soon see the palace of Pluto."
;"Now, farewell, and remember all my words!"
;"I come, I come, why dost thou call for me?"
;"Weep not, friend, for me, who dies innocent, by the lawless act of wicked men. My condition is much better than theirs."
;"O children, whither are you going?"
;"These, O Cephalon, are the wages of a king's love."
;"Do not disturb my circles!"
;"Go and give the ass a drink of wine to wash down the figs."
;"It is well that we have not been every way unfortunate."
;"Let us ease the Roman people of their continual care, who think it long to await the death of an old man."
;"Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro through the mouths of men."
;"It is a cold bath you give me."
;"When will the republic find a citizen like me?"
;"Fear not true Pharisees, but greatly fear painted Pharisees."
;"O wretched head-band!—not able to help me even in this small thing!"
;"I am free and the subject of a free state."
;"I am not mistaken, surely, in believing you to have been formerly my fellow-soldier."
;"The imperator is doing well."
;"You too, my child?"
;"O wretched virtue! thou art a bare name! I mistook thee for a substance; but thou thyself art the slave of fortune."
;"I go no further
;"Through too much fondness of life, I have lived to endure the sight of my friend taken by the enemy before my face."
;"Yes, indeed, we must fly; but not with our feet, but with our hands."
;"You must not pity me in this last turn of fate. You should rather be happy in the remembrance of our love, and in the recollection that of all men I was once the most famous and the most powerful, and now, at the end, have fallen not dishonorably, a Roman by a Roman vanquished."
;"Here thou art, then!"
;"Extremely well, and as became the descendant of so many kings."
;"Death twitches my ear. 'Live,' he says. 'I am coming.'"
;"Have I played the part well? Then applaud, as I exit."
;"It is finished. \ Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
;"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."
;"I am still alive!"
;"It is not painful, Pætus."
;"Strike here! Level your rage against the womb which gave birth to such a monster."
;"Asunder flies the man— / No single wound the gaping rupture seems, / Where trickling crimson flows the tender streams; / But from an opening horrible and wide / A thousand vessels pour the bursting tide
;"Too late; is this your fidelity?"
;"Strike, if it be for the Romans' good."
;"Go and show yourself to the soldiers, lest they cut you to pieces for being accessory to my death."
;"Yet I was once your Emperor."
;"Woe, I think I'm turning into a god... An emperor should die on his feet."
;"Fortune favors the bold. Make for where Pomponianus is."
;"My life is taken from me, though I have done nothing to deserve it; for there is no action of mine of which I should repent, but one."
;"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One!"
;"O my poor soul, whither art thou going?"
;"O Lord God Almighty, Father of Thy well-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, by whom we have received knowledge of Thee; God of angels, powers, and every creature that lives before Thee; I thank Thee that Thou hast graciously thought me worthy of this day and hour, that I may receive a portion in the number of Thy martyrs, and drink of Christ's cup, for the resurrection of both soul and body unto life eternal, in the incorruptibleness of the Holy Spirit. Among them may I be admitted this day, as an acceptable sacrifice, as Thou, O true and faithful God, hast prepared, foreshown, and accomplished. Wherefore, I praise Thee for all Thy mercies. I bless Thee. I glorify Thee, with Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, the Eternal, to Whom, with Thee and the Holy Spirit, be glory now and forever."
;"Equanimity."
;"You may go home, the show is over."
File:Delacroix-Marc Aurèle-MBA-Lyon.jpg|thumb|Last Words of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius by Eugène Delacroix.
;"Go to the rising sun, for I am setting. Think more of death than of me."
;"But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?""
;"Hurry, if anything remains for me to do."
;"I am roasted,—now turn me, and eat me."
;"God be thanked."
;"I am making my last effort to return that which is divine in me to that which is divine in the Universe."
;"And let my word be kept secret by you, so that no one knows the place but you alone. For in the resurrection of the dead I shall receive my body incorruptible once again from the Savior. Distribute my clothing. To Bishop Athanasius give the one sheepskin and the cloak on which I lie, which he gave to me new, but I have by now worn out. And to Bishop Serapion give the other sheepskin, and you keep the hair garment. And now God preserve you, children, for Antony is leaving and is with you no longer."
;"How am I advanced, despising you that are upon the earth!"
;"And yet Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!"
;"In peace I will sleep with Him and take my rest."
;"My dear one, with whom I lived in love so long, make room for me, for this is my grave, and in death we shall not be divided."
;"Old though he be, he is the best of all."
;"What dost thou here, thou cruel beast?"