# Your favorite final words
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [December 7, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739 "2013-12-07T08:55:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/1 "2013-12-07T08:55:39Z")
What’s your favorite famous last words that a notable person in history is known to have said?
Mine is: _“Thomas Jefferson still survives.”_ – John Adams, 4 July 1826
Optional: What do you hope your own final words will be?
Mine: _“Betcha ten bucks I can!”_
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/2 "2013-12-07T09:16:24Z")
_Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l’ai pas fait exprès._(“Pardon me, sir. I did not do it on purpose.”)–Marie Antoinette, as she accidentally stepped on the foot of her executioner.
Personal Optional: “I gave the winning Powerball ticket to…”
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/3 "2013-12-07T09:18:02Z")
“I think I could eat one of Bellamy’s meat pies.” _William Pitt the Younger_
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/4 "2013-12-07T09:30:07Z")
[Emperor Vespasian:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespasian#Death_.2879.29) “Alas! I think I’m becoming a god!”
[Erskine Childers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Erskine_Childers#Civil_War_and_death): “Take a step or two forward, lads. It will be easier that way.” (Said to the firing squad at his own execution.)
[Marshal Ney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Ney): “Soldiers, when I give the command to fire, fire straight at my heart. Wait for the order. It will be my last to you. I protest against my condemnation. I have fought a hundred battles for France, and not one against her…Soldiers, Fire!” (Also said to the firing squad at his own execution. Possibly apocrphyal that one, but it’s a great story.)
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/5 "2013-12-07T09:37:19Z")
[“Either that wallpaper goes or I do.”](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Oscar_Wilde#Those_Drapes)
(or something like that)
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### Author:  [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/6 "2013-12-07T10:24:23Z")
“We apologise for the inconvenience” (God’s Final Message to His Creation in _So Long and Thanks for all the Fish_),
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/7 "2013-12-07T10:36:12Z")
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
-Roy Batty
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/8 "2013-12-07T10:52:35Z")
I don’t know if this qualifies as being notable enough, but this is mine. James French was an infamous murderer at the time.
“How’s this for your headline? French Fries” - James French, speaking to reporters just before being executed in the electric chair.
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### Author:  [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/9 "2013-12-07T10:53:14Z")
“Don’t let it end like this, tell them I said something.” Pancho Villa
“Shoot straight, you bastards! Don’t make a mess of it!”. Breaker Morant
Depending on circumstances I’ve already decided I might go with, “Tell my wife I love her” _(I’m not and never have been married)_
“All these years I’ve been leading a secret life, I’ve amassed a hidden fortune in money, all you need to do to access it is…_kicks the bucket_”
Although I’ve always wanted to be remembered for something like this, “Take the poor crippled orphan child and go, I’ll hold them off!”, “No DH! Don’t be a hero!” 😉
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### Author:  [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/10 "2013-12-07T12:04:22Z")
“I Tripped”. Said in a southern/western twang. It’s either the last line, or one of the last lines in a movie my sister and I watched some 25-30 years ago. We have no idea what the name of it is because we missed the beginning of it, and the stupid TV station never came on and did any sort of “station identification” that is, no “and now back to _obscure bizarre movie you’re watching at 2am_”.
It’s an old black and white done in a western style. A group of people are on some sort of cattle drive, or wagon train west or something and one of the group, a young man, ends up stabbed to death and the rest of the people find his body. Then they all sit around the campfire trying to figure out “whodunit” and the rest of the movie is done in flashbacks showing how each of the others could have been the one who killed him. At the very end of the movie one of the other characters shows up and explains how he saw the whole thing, the young man tripped over a root or something and fell on the knife, and as he dies, he drawls “ah treeupt”.
Kind of a family joke now, and I’m just smartassed enough that if I was dying and had enough breath left, and my family and friends (who are in on it) were around, I’d probably smart off with just those words. And my family is the sort that would actually laugh and gain comfort from it, even though that probably sounds weird. 🙂
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### Author:  [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/11 "2013-12-07T13:25:18Z")
“What is the answer?” (no reply) “then what is the question?”
Gertrude Stein
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/12 "2013-12-07T15:37:53Z")
“They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance!”
[http://www.civilwarhome.com/sedgwickdeath.htm](http://www.civilwarhome.com/sedgwickdeath.htm)
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### Author:  [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/13 "2013-12-07T16:09:31Z")
“Today, I am the only man alive who knows the who’s and how’s and as my end comes very shortly I’ll take this little story with me on the last walk.” — Harry Pierpont, last survivor of the Dillinger gang, before his execution.
There are those who think one of the secrets Pierpont took to his grave is the truth about Dillinger’s sidewalk execution. A convincing case was made that the man killed was a minor street thug who bore a strong resemblance to Dillinger, while John D. lived out a quiet life in the US northwest.
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### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/14 "2013-12-07T16:36:18Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#):
>
> “We apologise for the inconvenience” (God’s Final Message to His Creation in _So Long and Thanks for all the Fish_),
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#):
>
> “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
> -Roy Batty
Since we’re apparently adding a fiction category, it behooves me to include:
“I blame society. Society made me what I am!” – Duke, _Repo Man_
“I would have followed you, my brother…my captain…my king.” – Boromir, _The Fellowship of the Ring_
“What’s that smell?” – Tyler Durden, _Fight Club_
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### Author:  [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/15 "2013-12-07T18:01:23Z")
When my dad came back from WWII he apprenticed with an Norwegian immigrant old-style house painter. That way he could make some bucks while he got re-established and settled.
When Ole (yes, his real name) was dying Dad went to see him.
Ole was on his back in a hospital bed and the last words he said to my father before he dozed off for the day were, “Da ceilin’ neets paintin’.”
My mother’s last words were to me in four phrases spoken between periods of unconsciousness. In this order:
1. Remember, we are strong people. We can survive anything.
2. Let me hear from you some time.
3. Don’t forget me.
4. I love you.
And I like the possibly apocryphal, “I told you I was sick.”
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/16 "2013-12-07T18:11:16Z")
Richard Feynman: “I would hate to die twice. It is so boring.”
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### Author:  [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/17 "2013-12-07T18:23:11Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#):
>
> “I Tripped”. Said in a southern/western twang. It’s either the last line, or one of the last lines in a movie my sister and I watched some 25-30 years ago. We have no idea what the name of it is because we missed the beginning of it, and the stupid TV station never came on and did any sort of “station identification” that is, no “and now back to _obscure bizarre movie you’re watching at 2am_”.
>
> It’s an old black and white done in a western style. A group of people are on some sort of cattle drive, or wagon train west or something and one of the group, a young man, ends up stabbed to death and the rest of the people find his body. Then they all sit around the campfire trying to figure out “whodunit” and the rest of the movie is done in flashbacks showing how each of the others could have been the one who killed him. At the very end of the movie one of the other characters shows up and explains how he saw the whole thing, the young man tripped over a root or something and fell on the knife, and as he dies, he drawls “ah treeupt”.
>
> Kind of a family joke now, and I’m just smartassed enough that if I was dying and had enough breath left, and my family and friends (who are in on it) were around, I’d probably smart off with just those words. And my family is the sort that would actually laugh and gain comfort from it, even though that probably sounds weird. 🙂
OT -
Same here **Canvas Shoes.** We’ve been laughing forever over this line and can’t remember.
Our three best bets are “The Outrage” with Paul Newman, “Texas Across the River.” and “4 For Texas.” But I can’t nail it down.
“The Outrage” is based on “Rashomon” an old story where everyone gives version of an incident implicating others and making himself the hero. So maybe it’s the former?
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/18 "2013-12-07T18:34:01Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#):
>
> When my dad came back from WWII he apprenticed with an Norwegian immigrant old-style house painter. That way he could make some bucks while he got re-established and settled.
>
> When Ole (yes, his real name) was dying Dad went to see him.
>
> Ole was on his back in a hospital bed and the last words he said to my father before he dozed off for the day were, “Da ceilin’ neets paintin’.”
>
> My mother’s last words were to me in four phrases spoken between periods of unconsciousness. In this order:
>
> 1. Remember, we are strong people. We can survive anything.
>
> 2. Let me hear from you some time.
>
> 3. Don’t forget me.
>
> 4. I love you.
Those are wonderful. I’m feeling similarly sentimental. My favorite last words: “You’re my special girl. I love you so much,” spoken to me by my grandmother. Not sure if she knew it was me or not, but it doesn’t matter. Her last words were her loving someone, so I’m happy with that. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/19 "2013-12-07T18:48:07Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> Those are wonderful. I’m feeling similarly sentimental. My favorite last words: “You’re my special girl. I love you so much,” spoken to me by my grandmother. Not sure if she knew it was me or not, but it doesn’t matter. Her last words were her loving someone, so I’m happy with that. 🙂
Oh. I wasn’t teary, just nostalgic.
Until you said that.
It’s such a bittersweet joy and we are lucky people.
I’m still trying to figure out how to get in touch with her sometime. I go out and sit with her but the spirit has flown.
Back to the OP theme. I believe Ole, who had probably never read a word of Oscar Wilde, may have had a similar aesthetic nonetheless. Didn’t Oscar say something about his dislike of the wallpaper before he died?
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-final-words/675739/20 "2013-12-07T19:03:39Z")
James K. Polk’s to his wife: "I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you. "
But I’m a romantic.
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