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Today I stumbled into some people's last words and amusing things they said shortly before their deaths, which they knew were approaching. Here are a few of my favorites.
Richard Harris, who sang "MacArthur Park" and played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter Movies, was rushed out of a hotel/diner on a stretcher shortly before his death. He told the people watching him "It was the food!"
Socrates, who--when asked what his punishment should be, suggested he be paid a wage from the government and given free dinners for the rest of his life. He was instead given Hemlock and poisoned to death.
Voltaire, on his deathbed, was asked to renounce the Devil. His response was, "This is no time or making new enemies."
Archimedes is rumoured to have died trying to convince his killer not to kill him until he could solve the math problem he was working on.
Winston Churchill's opinion of dying was "I'm bored with it all."
As Ethan Allen lay wounded and dying his physician tried to let him down easy by telling him that the angels of heaven were waiting for him. Ethan replied, "Waiting are they? Waiting are they? Well--let 'em wait!"
William J Fetterson ought to have been friends with Custer. His last known words were "Give me 80 men and I'll ride through the whole Sioux nation." He was shortly thereafter found dead will all 80 of his men.
Tallulah Bankhead, known for her substance use, died muttering, her only discernable words were requests for codeine and bourbon.
Dominique Bouhours, a noted grammarian, spoke his final words, "I am about to--or I am going to--die; either expression is correct." (Je vais ou je vas mourir, l'un et l'autre se dit ou se disent.)
Marquis de Favras Thomas de Mahay was executed during the French Revolution, on his way to the scaffold he was handed his official death sentence and remarked, "I see that you have made three spelling mistakes."
Bing Crosby, upon finishing a putt in golf, turned and said "It was a great game." He died right after.
A convict named George Appel just before he was electrocuted said to his executioners "You're about to see a baked apple."
Another convict named James French was also electrocuted, his final words were "How about this for a headline? French Fries!"
Another last phrase of yet another convict was Thomas Grasso in 1995 whose final words were, "I did not get my Spaghetti-O's. I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this."
But my absolute favorite is from the American Civil War spoken by John Sedgwick a moment before he was killed by enemy fire.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."
Richard Harris, who sang "MacArthur Park" and played Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter Movies, was rushed out of a hotel/diner on a stretcher shortly before his death. He told the people watching him "It was the food!"
Socrates, who--when asked what his punishment should be, suggested he be paid a wage from the government and given free dinners for the rest of his life. He was instead given Hemlock and poisoned to death.
Voltaire, on his deathbed, was asked to renounce the Devil. His response was, "This is no time or making new enemies."
Archimedes is rumoured to have died trying to convince his killer not to kill him until he could solve the math problem he was working on.
Winston Churchill's opinion of dying was "I'm bored with it all."
As Ethan Allen lay wounded and dying his physician tried to let him down easy by telling him that the angels of heaven were waiting for him. Ethan replied, "Waiting are they? Waiting are they? Well--let 'em wait!"
William J Fetterson ought to have been friends with Custer. His last known words were "Give me 80 men and I'll ride through the whole Sioux nation." He was shortly thereafter found dead will all 80 of his men.
Tallulah Bankhead, known for her substance use, died muttering, her only discernable words were requests for codeine and bourbon.
Dominique Bouhours, a noted grammarian, spoke his final words, "I am about to--or I am going to--die; either expression is correct." (Je vais ou je vas mourir, l'un et l'autre se dit ou se disent.)
Marquis de Favras Thomas de Mahay was executed during the French Revolution, on his way to the scaffold he was handed his official death sentence and remarked, "I see that you have made three spelling mistakes."
Bing Crosby, upon finishing a putt in golf, turned and said "It was a great game." He died right after.
A convict named George Appel just before he was electrocuted said to his executioners "You're about to see a baked apple."
Another convict named James French was also electrocuted, his final words were "How about this for a headline? French Fries!"
Another last phrase of yet another convict was Thomas Grasso in 1995 whose final words were, "I did not get my Spaghetti-O's. I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this."
But my absolute favorite is from the American Civil War spoken by John Sedgwick a moment before he was killed by enemy fire.
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."
