"Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him."
— Abimelech, king of Shechem (12th century BCE). Mortally wounded in battle by a stone thrown by a woman, he asked his armor-bearer to kill him.
"It is better to perish here than to kill all these poor beans."
— Pythagoras, Ionian Greek philosopher and founder of Pythagoreanism (495 BCE) refused to escape with his students from the Crotonians through a fava bean field.
"Give the boys a holiday."
— Anaxagoras, Greek philosopher (c. 428 BCE), in response to citizens of Lampsacus asking how they could honor his memory.
"Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt."
— Socrates, Greek philosopher (399 BCE), just before his death by ingestion of poison hemlock which he was forced to drink as a death sentence.
"To the strongest."
— Alexander the Great, conqueror, and king of Macedonia (c. 11 June 323 BCE), when asked to whom his vast empire should belong to after his death.
— Archimedes, Greek mathematician (c. 212 BCE), to a Roman soldier who interrupted his geometric experiments during the capture of Syracuse, whereupon the soldier killed him.
"Go and give the ass a drink of wine to wash down the figs."
— Chrysippus, Greek philosopher (c. 206 BCE), before dying of laughter.
"Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro through the mouths of men."
— Ennius, writer and poet of the Roman Republic (c. 169 BCE); lines dictated to be engraved on his memorial. Only fragments of his works now survive.
"You too, my child?"[
— Julius Caesar, Roman dictator (15 March 44 BCE), discovering that his stepson Brutus was among his murderers.
"It is not painful, Pætus."
— Arria, Roman woman (42 CE), to her husband, Aulus Caecina Paetus. He had been condemned to death but given permission to kill himself; when he hesitated to do so, his wife stabbed herself first and handed the dagger to him.
"I am roasted,—now turn me, and eat me."
— Saint Lawrence, Christian deacon (10 August 258 CE), while being burned alive on a gridiron.
"When I am buried, carry my winding-sheet on the point of a spear, and say these words: Behold the spoils which Saladin carries with him! Of all his victories, realms, and riches, nothing remains to him but this."
— Saladin, first sultan of Egypt and Syria (4 March 1193)
"How shameful it is that I, who could not die in so many battles, should have been saved for the ignominious death of a cow! At least clothe me in my impenetrable breastplate, gird me with my sword, place my helmet on my head, my shield in my left hand, my gilded battle-axe in my right, that I, the bravest of soldiers, may die like a soldier."
— Siward, Earl of Northumbria (1055), dying of dysentery.
"Let us complete the Service of Offering, the rest of Holy Mass I will celebrate elsewhere!"
— Eric the Holy, Swedish king (18 May 1160) just before being decapitated by his successor.
"Pope Clement, Chevalier Guillaume de Nogaret, King Philip! I summon you to the Tribunal of Heaven before the year is out!"
— Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar (11 or 18 March 1314), before being burned at the stake.
"Hold the cross high so I may see it through the flames!"
— Joan of Arc, French military leader and mystic (30 May 1431), while she was burning at the stake.
"Will not all my riches save me? What, is there no bribing death?"
— Henry Beaufort (11 April 1447), Cardinal, Bishop of Winchester
"I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."
— Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist and scientist (2 May 1519), to King Francis I of France.
"I desire to go to hell, and not to heaven. In the former place I shall enjoy the company of popes, kings, and princes, while in the latter are only beggars, monks, hermits, and apostles."
— Niccolò Machiavelli (21 June 1527), Italian Renaissance diplomat, philosopher and writer.
"That is enough to last till I get to Heaven."
— William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury (22 August 1532), when a servant told him he had thirty pounds left.
"Nothing else but heaven."
— Philip Melanchthon, German Lutheran reformer (19 April 1560), when asked if he wanted anything.
"Tomorrow, at sunrise, I shall no longer be here.
— Nostradamus, French seer (2 July 1566), correctly predicting his death
"Take it; thy need is greater than mine."
— Philip Sidney, English poet and soldier (17 October 1586), was mortally wounded at the Battle of Zutphen, passing a cup of water to another wounded soldier.
"All my possessions for a moment of time."
— Elizabeth I, queen regnant of England (24 March 1603)
"I think I'm going to make it."
— Richard A. Loeb (28 January 1936), after being slashed 56 times with a razor in a prison fight.
"Remember, my Eliza, you are a Christian."
— Alexander Hamilton, American statesman (12 July 1804), addressing his wife after being mortally shot by his rival Aaron Burr in a duel
"If any of you have a message for the devil, give it to me, for I am about to meet him!"
— Lavinia Fisher, American alleged serial killer (18 February 1820), prior to execution by hanging.
"Why, certainly, certainly!"[
— Edward Thompson Taylor, American Methodist minister (6 April 1871), when a friend asked him if Jesus was precious.
"You may go home, the show is over."
— Demonax, Greek Cynic philosopher (c. 170 CE)[
"Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!"
— Karl Marx, political theorist (14 March 1883), when asked by his housekeeper about his last words.
Hmm. Hey, how have you been feeling lately? I know words fail some times but if this helps you breathe, I hope you breathe even more.