+3 votes
165 views
in Society & Culture by

There is even a book compiled of people's last utterances...

"Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him."  ~~ John Barrymore, actor, d. May 29, 1942

"I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring."
~~ Richard Feynman, quantum physicist, d. 1988

"Is it the Fourth?"
~~ Thomas Jefferson, US President, d. July 4, 1826

"Thomas Jefferson--still survives..."
~~ John Adams, US President, d. July 4, 1826 (actually, Jefferson had died a few hours earlier)

"It is very beautiful over there."
~~ Thomas Alva Edison, inventor, d. October 18, 1931

"Damn it . . . Don't you dare ask God to help me."
~~ Joan Crawford, actress, d. May 10, 1977, to her housekeeper, who had begun to pray aloud.

"I've had eighteen straight whiskies, I think that's the record . . ."
~~ Dylan Thomas, poet, d. 1953, age 39

In 1979, John Wayne was 72...turned to his wife and said, "Of course I know who you are. You're my girl. I love you."

* * *

This is the one I like best, even though some say it is apocryphal...                                "That wallpaper is atrocious. Either it goes, or I do."  ~~ Oscar Wilde, poet, author, humourist, November 1900.



4 Answers

+4 votes
by
 
Best answer
I have not much to offer, as many sources do not agree or only partially; many last words might have been adapted, dramatised or "beautified", some were myths; I'll stick therefore to some historical characters and supposed "last words":

Julius Caesar (probably a myth; some say even that he communicated in Ancient Greek)
Tu quoque, mi fili, resp. "Και συ τέκνον" (Kai sy teknon), i.e. "You too, my son"
- and/or -
"Et tu, Brutus", i.e. "And you, Brutus" (according to Shakespeare)

Leonardo Da Vinci (there was no evidence that King Francis I was there to hear Leonardo's last words)
"Non ho offeso Dio e gli uomini, perché il mio lavoro non ha raggiunto la qualità che avrebbe dovuto avere".
“I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.”

Rabelais
"Je m'en vais chercher un grand peut-être; tirez le rideau, la farce est jouée".
"I am going to seek a grand, perhaps; draw the curtain, the farce is played".

Voltaire
"Je m’arrêterais de mourir s’il me venait un bon mot ou une bonne idée."
"I'd stop to die, if I had a good word (or a good idea)".


by

Marianne, who knows what really happened, so long ago now...but the famous Julius Caesar saying, the idea that he might have said, "you too, my son," to Brutus...that pulls at your heart!

...and I do hope da Vinci did not say THAT! ...all that he gave us...

by

Yes, Virginia, we don't really know, only that the issues were tragic; Caesar was considered to have been a tyrant, realising that he had been betrayed by his favoured nephew and adopted son, while Leonardo was said to have been very humble and repenting, when he was about to die (probably referring to his former involvements in wars for his patrons as military architect and engineer).


by

Oh Marianne! I did not realize da Vinci had contributed his genius to the militarism of his patrons...which would surely be very difficult for a great soul like his to reconcile...that puts a whole new light on his deathbed words!

by

Oh yes, and he seemed to have created his engines with flaws - on purpose.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/13/1039656218782.html


by

It's another interesting link, Marianne...here is what I found...

Mr Mosley believes that the clue lies in a note da Vinci made beside his aqualung design. It reads: "Knowing the evil in men's hearts, they will learn how to kill men on the seabed."

"He was a gay, vegetarian pacifist and the paradox is that he then goes and works for warlords. He was very aware that they might try to put his inventions to military use," Mr Mosley said.

by

Yes, Virginia, that was also mentioned. For artists and scientists like him, life or surviving was not easy, and they depended much on the rich and powerful Lords who employed them. :)<3


+4 votes
by

With this ring I thee wed.

by

Oh CP, I get it, it is a joke! For a few seconds I was struggling to make the connection...;)  aw, surely not all THAT bad, I hope...:'(  :(  :sick:

by

Hahahah no not at all. I did it for 34 years until he decided to leave me last Halloween for the Grim Reaper. ;(

Its alright, I had a great time , not all that bad.....hahhahaha

by

Oh CP, 34 years together...that is marvelous. And, my condolence at your loss...

by

Thanks Virginia. Happy Fourth of July ;)

by

<3

+4 votes
by

Frank Sinatra died after saying, “I’m losing it.”

 George Orwell’s last written words were, “At fifty, everyone has the face he deserves.” He died at age 46.

“I should never have switched from Scotch to martinis.” Humphrey Bogart.

"I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.” Errol Flynn

by

Oh Rooster, those are marvelous! Two of the great actors of the early silver screen...

You notice I made sure to include The Duke!

by

@ Virginia : Yes, I sure noticed.! LOL  :)

+3 votes
by

I heard somewhere that Galileo said "And yet, it [the Earth] moves," (E pur si muove) on his deathbed, where he was safe from the Inquisition, but the quote is apocryphal.

http://www.historyrundown.com/did-galileo-really-say-and-yet-it-moves/

by

O'Tink, that was his life's work, his contribution...the quote may be apocryphal but I would lay a bet that he never forgot it, even likely that on his deathbed he THOUGHT it...

I had not heard the quote, and I love it.

by

Yes, Virginia, he never forgot it, but had to keep quiet in the face of the Political Correctness of his time and place.

by

O'Tink, although I myself do not have TV, recently I watched a documentary of his life, History Channel or maybe PBS...it was very moving, I thought. His love for his daughter...and her early death...

by

VIrginia, I don't really know anything of Galileo's personal life. 

Is this the documentary?

It says it's based on the book, Galileo's Daughter.

by

O'Tink, that is indeed the documentary, it was Nova, then...I recall that is how it began, the show I watched.

by

Virginia, I'll watch it when I have time. :)

by

Oh yes, T(h)ink, good that you remind us of Galileo's alleged last words, though there is - again - no proof - but I still have the impression that he might have said or thought it, but that the Church Fathers in these times did not want their "sheep" to know how wrong and intolerant they were:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_yet_it_moves


And thank you for the link to the documentary. :)


by

O'Tink, you may enjoy the Galileo documentary...for me, it certainly put a very human face onto all the tragedy he endured, along with/as a result of his great science.

by

Marianne, from now on I am going to believe Galileo really DID say that...here is what is in your link:

In 1911, the words "E pur si muove" were found on a Spanish painting which had just been acquired by an art collector, (in) Belgium. This painting was completed within a year or two of Galileo's death, as it is dated 1643 or 1645 (the last digit is partially obscured). ...but nonetheless shows that some variant of the "Eppur si muove" anecdote was in circulation immediately after his death, when many who had known him were still alive to attest to it, and that it had been circulating for over a century before it was published.

You probably even know how to pronounce the phrase...I am going to see if I can find a place to listen, so I can learn to say it...I really like it...

"As such, the phrase is used today as a sort of pithy retort implying that 'it doesn't matter what you believe; these are the facts.' "

by

Virginia, here's a correct pronunciation "in Italian" (I checked both):

https://www.google.ch/search?client=firefox-b&biw=1600&bih=791&noj=1&q=eppur+si+muove+pronunciazione&oq=eppur+si+muove+pronunciazione&gs_l=serp.3...2781.19054.0.20176.29.29.0.0.0.0.269.269.2-1.1.0.crnk_qsds...0...1.1.64.serp..28.1.268...0.5NVxBfwtiSY

click on the

arrow "Pronunciato da sales (Uomo, Italia)" - slow

arrow "Pronunciato da Alchimista (Uomo, Italia)" - fast


Yes, he must have said it, although the moment in which (or how he said it), was not known.

by

Thank you Marianne

by

You're very welcome, Virginia. :)<3

by

And Galileo's daughter was named Virginia:)

by

O'Tink I had forgotten that...and of course I took special note watching the film...and in Galileo's time, 1564-1642, I was surprised because I assumed the name was invented for the U.S. state, from which my great-grandparents came and for which I was named!

by

@ Virginia,

If I remember my grade-school history, the state was named after Elizabeth I, the virgin queen. (I remember my 5th-grade teacher explaining that "virgin" meant she had never married, without going into any further details. :D  I learned later that Queen Elizabeth I was most probably NOT a virgin in the more... um... anatomical sense. :D :D )

But, although I have not researched this, I'm sure that in Italy and other Catholic countries in particular, girls would have been named Virginia after the Virgin Mary.

by

Well, I must admit that an older, Virgin Mary origin of the name DOES seem rather likely, O'Tink! I do recall from my own grade-school days, it was Sir Walter Raleigh who came up with the name for the state, honoring his Virgin Queen. 

However, he got in trouble when he secretly married one of her lady's maids, wasn't it? Ended up in the Tower of London, eventually got beheaded...Elizabeth was NOT kind to favourites when their affections strayed...

by

To Virginia and T(h)ink

Lol - I had (have) also serious doubts regarding Queen Elizabeth's "anatomical" virginity, but she was a remarkable queen; she had lots of suitors - and there was Robert Dudley:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England

And Sir Walter Raleigh - wait a minute - wasn't he beheaded after Queen Elizabeth 1's death?

Citing:

"After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for being involved in the Main Plot against King James I, who was not favourably disposed towards him. In 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, men led by his top commander ransacked a Spanish outpost, in violation of both the terms of his pardon and a peace treaty with Spain. He returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, was arrested and executed in 1618."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Raleigh


by

Oh alas, poor Sir Walter! As a teenager, I read Queen E I biography...now I will go to your first link, Marianne...I especially recall she was the daughter of Anne Boleyn, who refused to sign away Elizabeth's right to the succession...

by

Raleigh was a man after my own heart.  :D

"Raleigh while imprisoned in the Tower wrote his incomplete "The Historie of the World." Using a wide array of sources in six languages, Raleigh was fully abreast of the latest continental scholarship. He wrote not about England, but of the ancient world with a heavy emphasis on geography. Despite his intention of providing current advice to the King of England, King James I complained that it was "too sawcie in censuring Princes."  :D :D

by

O'Tink...Sir Walter Raleigh...an interesting (and sad) historical perspective on the history of thought; the king could not even tolerate the indirect information, it seems...I still remember grade school history explaining the concept of divine right of kings...

by

Yep, monarchs (and presidents) have had a tendency to be thin-skinned about criticism. Divine right has mostly gone out of style, but has been replaced by cult of personality in many cases.

by

Yes, indeed, Virginia, poor Sir Walter and poor Ann Boleyn - but both had a lot of personality.

And T(h)ink - perfectly said: the cult of personality - seems to be back in a majority of cases, as divine right was overly misused throughout history.

:)

by

O'Tink, and Marianne, I do think I have an idea what you mean by "the cult of personality"...but if either of you would care to elaborate a bit more, I would be interested...how that might create parallels with the Divine Right of Kings?

by

Virginia,

Cult of personality is something developed by many dictators, although it is not limited to politics. It has to do with creating a larger-than-life image of a leader to enhance and justify his (usually) absolute authority.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality

Instead of the leader's authority being granted by God, as in Divine Right, his authority stems from his own unique and heroic excellence, as described in the propaganda designed for the purpose of exalting the leader. Hitler, Stalin and Mao would all be examples.

by

Thank you, O'Tink...another example, then, the Kims; I read a book about North Korea which claims many citizens believe that the grandfather Kim IL-Sung never really died, is still watching over them.

by

Yes, Virginia, T(h)ink explained very well the cult of personalities, i.e. kings, imperators, pharaohs, despots, etc., since ancient times.

And even with the world religions, kings, emperors and other leading dynasties were "chosen" by God.

For instance:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anointing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrism

by

@ Virginia,

Gee, that's really strange. I think they can go see his embalmed remains in his mausoleum, unless of course they think he is alive and watching over them in spirit form.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/03/08/a-photogra

by

O'Tink, when I read this book I actually wondered if the author might be indulging in propaganda...but her credentials are good...if she is accurate, there are fewer elderly, and parent-age adults diminished too; because during the frequent famines there developed a kind of triage where older generations would starve themselves so rations could go to the children. Thus lots of orphans now...along with a kind of coerced worship of the Kims; for example, people coming around to make sure you have dusted the Kim portraits required on display in each household.

I just now looked up the book for you, if you do read it pls let me know if YOU trust the information there...it's horrific.

image

by

Virginia, I think it's likely accurate. There may also be official pressure by handing out fewer ration coupons to old people, because they are no longer of use to the state (shades of G.B. Shaw, remember?), whereas children and young adults clearly are.

These leaders are beyond despicable.

by

I did finally decide to trust the information; the author is a well-respected journalist who spent several years interviewing the (very few) defectors who made it out from North to South Korea. (@ O'Tink)

Is this page not working?

Click here to see the recent version of this page

...