Famous Last Words icon

Famous Last Words

The famous last words of famous people...

The last words of famous people.

Dying words are a very special form of quotation. Some are rehearsed and contrived; others are spontaneous and witty.

'Famous last words' are often impromptu sayings, spoken by the dying person for the first (and, of course, last) time on their deathbed.

36 Famous People and Their Famous Last Words

Kurt Cobain
(1967-1994)
The last words of of Kurt Cobain
It's better to burn out than to fade away.
His final words were written in his suicide note.
Steve Jobs
(1955–2011)
The last words of Steve Jobs
Oh wow.
Jobs' final words before his death were "Oh wow", repeated three times after a long last look at his family.
King George V
(1865–1936)
The last words of King George V
Bugger Bognor!
His response when his doctor told him he would soon be well and able to visit Bognor Regis again.
Buddha - Siddhattha Gautama
(circa 563 BC - circa 483 BC)
The last words of The Buddha
I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness.
Humphrey Bogart
(1899-1957)
The last words of Humphrey Bogart
Goodbye Kid. Hurry back.
Said to Lauren Bacall as she briefly left his bedside.
The last words of Hunter S. Thompson
Relax - This won't hurt.
The final line of his suicide note.
Todd Beamer
(1968- 2001)
The last words of Todd Beamer
Let's roll.
Overheard on an open phone line just before attempting to regain control of the hijacked Flight 93 on 9/11.
George Best
(1946-2005)
The last words of George Best
Don't die like I did.
This message was handwritten on a card by his hospital deathbed.
More on the last words of George Best...
Elvis Presley
(1935 - 1977)
The last words of Elvis Presley
I hope I haven't bored you.
These were Presely's final words in public - said to the audience at the last concert before his death. The last words he said in private were "I'm going to the bathroom to read".
John Quincy Adams
(1767–1848)
The last words of John Quincy Adams
This is the last of earth. I am content.
Said just before his death, as he collapsed after a stroke in the US Senate.
Jane Austen
(1561–1626)
The last words of Jane Austen
I want nothing but death.
Said to her sister Cassandra on her deathbed.
Sir Francis Bacon
(1561–1626)
The last words of Sir Francis Bacon
For my name and memory, I leave it to men's charitable speeches, and to foreign nations, and the next ages.
The last lines in his will (his spoken last words are uncertain).
Lucille Ball
(1911–1985)
The last words of Lucille Ball
My Florida water.
Said when asked if there was anything she wanted.
P. T. Barnum
(1810–1891)
The last words of P. T. Barnum
Nancy, I want you to know my last thoughts are of you.
Said to his wife a few hours before he died.
John Belushi
(1949-1982)
The last words of John Belushi
Just don't leave me alone.
His final words, said after being injected with the Class A drugs that killed him.
David Bowie
(1947-2016)
The last words of David Bowie
Music has been my doorway of perception and the house that I live in.
Said to his friend Gary Oldman towards the end of his life.
More on the last words of David Bowie...
Donald Campbell
(1921–1967)
The last words of Donald Campbell
Hallo, the bow is up… I'm going… I'm on my back… I've gone. Oh.
From a transcription of a radio message sent as his boat was crashing.
King Charles II
(1630–1685)
The last words of King Charles II
Let not poor Nelly starve.
Said in reference to Nell Gwynne, after the stroke from which he died.
Erskine Childers
(1870–1922)
The last words of Erskine Childers
Take a step forward, lads. It will be easier that way.
An encouragement to his firing squad.
Sir Winston Churchill
(1874–1965)
The last words of Sir Winston Churchill
I'm bored with it all.
Spoken just before he slipped into a coma.
Oliver Cromwell
(1599–1658)
The last words of Oliver Cromwell
It is not my design to drink or sleep. My design is to make what haste I can to be gone.
His response when offered a drink by a servant.
Salvador Dali
(1904-1989)

The last words of of Salvador Dali
I do not believe in my death.
Not his final words but an affirmation of his belief in his own imortality.
The last words of Diana, Princess of Wales
My God. What's happened?
Spoken in the hearing of the paparazzi who had been following her car when it crashed.

Isadora Duncan
(1878–1927)

The last words of Isadora Duncan
Adieu, mes amis. Je vais à la gloire. (Farewell, my friends. I go to glory.)
Said to her friends outside her hotel just before her fatal car crash.
The last words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Mehr Licht! (More light!)
Goethe asked for the window shutters be opened - his last words, made 30 minutes before his death.
Henrik Ibsen
(1828–1906)
The last words of of Henrik Ibsen
On the contrary.
His response when he heard a nurse tell a visitor that he was feeling better.
Michael Jackson
(1958–2009)
The last words of Michael Jackson
I love you more.
His reply to his choreographer's shout of "I love you" to Jackson as he left a rehearsal in London, on the day he died.
Stan Laurel
(1890-1965)
The last words of Stan Laurel
I'd rather be skiing.
His response when having his last injection.
John Lennon
(1940-1980)
The last words of John Lennon
I'm shot.
Repeated twice as he was shot outside his apartment building in New York.
Spike Milligan
(1918-2005)
The last words of Spike Milligan
I told you I was ill.
The epitaph (translated from Gaelic) that he requested for his gravestone.
Luciano Pavarotti
(1935-2007)
The last words of Lucianno Pavarotti
I believe that a life lived for music is an existence spent wonderfully, and this is what I have dedicated my life to.
A prepared statement givenn to his manager just before he died.
The last words of General John Sedgwick
They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance.
Said to his men who were ducking from the fire of a Confederate sniper.
Frank Sinatra
(1915-1998)
The last words of Frank Sinatra
I'm losing it.
Spoken to his wife who was at his bedside when he died.
Ludwig Wittgenstein
(1889–1951)
The last words of Ludwig Wittgenstein
Tell them I've had a wonderful life.
A message he wanted passed to friends who were due to visit him the following day, when he knew he would already have died.