Editor’s Page

By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez

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Famous Last Words By Some Famous Folks

 

oscar wilde(Wherein we invite our readers to choose the quote that would probably best express their own feelings when “the midnight hour finally chimes.”)

* Austen, Jane (1775-1817) “Nothing but death.” (When asked by her sister Cassandra if there was anything she wanted.)

* Barrymore, John (1882-1942) “Die? I should say not. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.”

* Beecher, Henry Ward (1813-1887) “Now comes the mystery.”

* Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827) “Friends, applaud, the comedy is over.”

* Bogart, Humphrey (1899-1957) “I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.”

* Chaplin, Charles (1889-1977) When the priest who was attending him at his bed side said “May the Lord have mercy on your soul,” Chaplin is reported to have replied “Why Not? After all, it belongs to Him.”

* Claudel, Paul (1868-1955) “Doctor, do you think it could have been the sausage?”

* Flynn, Errol (1909-1959) “I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun.”

* Gwenn, Edmund (1875-1959) “It is. But not as hard as farce.” (On his deathbed, in reply to the comment “Dying must be very hard.”)

* Henry, O. (1862-1910) “Turn up the lights, I don’t want to go home in the dark

* Jackson, Thomas “Stonewall” (1824-1863) “Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”

* Keynes, John Maynard (1883-1946) “I wish I’d drunk more champagne.”

* Marx, Karl (1818-1883) “Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.”

* Olivier, Laurence (1907-1989) “This isn’t Hamlet, you know, it’s not meant to go into the bloody ear.” (To his nurse, who spilt water over him while trying to moisten his lips.)

*Raleigh, Sir Walter (1554-1618) “I have a long journey to take, and must bid the company farewell.”

* Rodgers, James W.  [American criminal] “Why, yes, a bulletproof vest!” (His final request before the firing squad.)

* Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945) “I have a terrific headache.”

* Roosevelt, Theodore (1858-1919) “Put out the light.”

* Runyon, Damon (1884-1946) “You can keep the things of bronze and stone and give me one man to remember me just once a year.”

* Smith, Adam (1723-1790) “I believe we should adjourn this meeting to another place.”

* Stein, Gertrude (1874-1946) Just before she Stein died she asked, “What is the answer?” No answer came. She laughed and said, “Then what is the question?”

* Thomas, Dylan (1914-1953) “I have just had eighteen whiskeys in a row. I do believe that is a record.”

* Villa, Francisco ‘Pancho’ (1878-1923) “Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something!

* Voltaire (1694-1778) “This is no time to make new enemies.” (When asked on his deathbed to deny Satan.)

* Washington, George (1732-1799) “It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.”

* Wells, Herbert George (1866-1946) “Go away... I’m alright.”

* Wilde, Oscar (1854-1900) “Either this wallpaper goes, or I go!”

(Ed. Note: Wilde was dying in a ratty hotel in France when friends from England arrived. Mortified to see him in a hovel that didn’t even have windows, they wheeled him down to a much nicer corner room. When asked what he thought of it, Wilde (flat on his back in bed) peered at the wall next to him, and muttered what would be his last words—a great wit to the very end!)

 

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