The Famous Last Words Of 41 Historical Greats

Published September 16, 2021
Updated March 12, 2024

From Edgar Allen Poe to Tupac, enjoy the biting and sometimes hilarious last words of some of history's greatest figures.

Famous Last Words Of Frida Kahlo
"I hope the exit is joyful and hope never to return." - Frida Kahlo

George Harrison
"Love one another." - George Harrison

Last Words James Baldwin
"I'm bored." - James Baldwin

Salvador Dali
"Where is my clock?" - Salvador DalĂ­

Tupac
"Fuck you." - Tupac Shakur

Eleanor Roosevelt's Last Words
"Utter Nonsense" - Eleanor Roosevelet

Muhammad Ali
"I'm in no pain. No pain. Don't cry for me, Rahaman. I'm going to be with Allah. I made peace with God, I'm OK. Rahaman, how do I look?" - Muhammad Ali

Amy Winehouse
"I don't want to die." - Amy Winehouse

Elvis Presley
"I'm going to the bathroom to read." - Elvis Presley

Jane Austen
"I want nothing but death." - Jane Austen

Karl Marx's Last Words
"Last words are for fools who haven't said enough." - Karl Marx

Joan Crawford's Last Words
"Don't you dare ask God to help me." - Joan Crawford

Famous Last Words Joe Dimaggio
"I finally get to see Marilyn." - Joe Dimaggio

Emily Dickinson Final Words
"I must go in, the fog is rising." - Emily Dickinson

Daniel
"One last drink, please." - Jack DanielFamous Last Words Of Jack Daniel

Da Vinci
"I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have." - Leonardo Da Vinci

Coco Chanel's Famous Last Words
"You see, this is how you die." - Coco Chanel

Josephine Baker
"Oh, you young people act like old men. You are no fun." - Josephine Baker

Robert Kennedy
"Don't lift me." - Robert F. Kennedy

Nostradamus' Last Words Before Death
"Tomorrow, I shall no longer be here." - Nostradamus

James Brown
"I'm going away tonight." - James Brown

Last Words Of Humphrey Bogart
"Goodbye, kid. Hurry back." - Humphrey Bogart

Alfred Hitchcock
"One never knows the ending. One has to die to know exactly what happens after death, although Catholics have their hopes." - Alfred Hitchcock

Ernest Hemingway
"Goodnight, my kitten." - Ernest Hemingway

Last Words Of Winston Churchill
"I'm bored with it all." - Winston Churchill

Che Guevara
"Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man." - Che Guevara

Louisa May Alcott Deathbed Words
"Is it not meningitis?" - Louisa May Alcott

Benjamin Franklin
"A dying man can do nothing easy." - Benjamin Franklin

Arthur Conan Doyle Famous Last Words
"You are wonderful." - Arthur Conan Doyle

Harriet Tubman
"Swing low, sweet chariot." - Harriet Tubman

Mozart's Famous Last Words Before Death
"I feel something that is not of this earth." - Mozart

Groucho Marx
"This is no way to live!" - Groucho Marx

Edith Piaf Famous Last Words
"Every damn fool thing you do in this life you pay for." - Edith Piaf

W.C. Fields
"God damn the whole friggin' world and everyone in it but you, Carlotta." - W.C. Fields

Steve Jobs Haunting Last Words
"Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." - Steve Jobs

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

Laurence Olivier's Last Words
"This isn't Hamlet, you know. It's not meant to go in my bloody ear." - Laurence Olivier

Edgar Allan Poe
"Lord help my poor soul." - Edgar Allan Poe

Chico Marx
"Remember, Honey, don't forget what I told you. Put in my coffin a deck of cards, a mashie niblick, and a pretty blonde." - Chico Marx

William S. Burroughs
"Back in no time." - William S. Burroughs

Voltaire's Famous Last Words
"Now is not the time for making new enemies." - Voltaire, after being asked by a priest to renounce Satan.

Be they in the arts, politics, or sports, in many ways historical icons seem to be, well, not human. That perhaps explains why their deaths come as that much more of a shock to the general public.

The famous last words in the gallery above serve as an apt reminder that no one, not even the larger than life, can predict their end -- or for that matter, know exactly what they will say upon their dying breath.

Amy Winehouse Death
History Uncovered Podcast
Episode 26: The Death Of Amy Winehouse
Following a long downward spiral that often played out in the public eye, singer Amy Winehouse died tragically in 2011 at the age of just 27.

After reading these famous final words, check out our list of interesting quotes and history's best insults.

author
Savannah Cox
author
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.
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Cox, Savannah. "The Famous Last Words Of 41 Historical Greats." AllThatsInteresting.com, September 16, 2021, https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-last-words. Accessed November 7, 2024.