Your final words are your last legacy upon mankind. Have you thought about what you're going to say? These men did, and the effects were profound. Lend your eyes and ears and take a cue from these badass last utterances.
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Context: The social reformer and clergyman who championed women's suffrage, abolition, and temperance died of a stroke on March 6, 1887. The night before drifting off into oblivion, he uttered these final words.
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Context: On April 18, 1882, Charles Darwin had a severe heart attack in the middle of the night. He was recently diagnosed with coronary thrombosis and knew it was coming to an end. Recognizing his imminent death, he awoke and stated to his son, "I am not the least afraid to die." The great naturalist died in England, and the ballsiness of such a final statement is something we can all aspire to.
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Context: On April 15, 1912, bandleader Wallace Hartley and a few musicians attempted to quell Titanic passengers' horror. Until the very last moments of the ship sinking, the band kept playing. As the waves crashed on his bandmates and death swiftly came, he called out to his friends, "Gentlemen, I bid you farewell." He was found two weeks later floating in the icy Atlantic fully dressed with his violin case strapped to his body. A newspaper reported that Hartley's act "will rank among the noblest in the annals of heroism at sea."
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Context: During the Salem Witch Trials, courts would impose awful torture techniques to get those accused to plea. One witch by the name of Giles Corey refused. He died of pressing, an old colonial trick to get people to talk, which involved placing large rocks and boulders on top of a board that lay on top of the body, systemically crushing people to death.
Knowing he wouldn't be offered a fair trial, Corey simply requested more weight. As his eyes bulged and his tongue protruded from his face, he continued screaming, "More weight," right up until his last breath. He was 71.
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Context: Nostradamus suffered pangs of gout that made much of his final years unbearable. The famous French seer spent his life predicting future occurrences, and his last one rang unequivocally true. On July 1 1566, he told his secretary that he wouldn't be alive the next day. An alternative quote is, "You will not find me alive at sunrise." The next morning she found him dead on the floor next to his bed.
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Context: A theoretical physicist whose life is glittered with scientific accomplishments had surgery on two rare forms of cancer. It didn't save him. Moments before death, he acknowledged the mundane nature of death. He was 69.
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Context: He was a convicted murderer facing execution in 1995 for the killing of two women. While not exactly manly, one could agree his last words expressed zero fear of death.
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Context: "No more games. No more bombs. No more walking. No more swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitch. No fun - for anybody. 67. You're getting greedy. Act your old age. Relax - this won't hurt." Thompson always knew he'd stare death in the eyes and take his own life. He told his friend 25 years previously that "he would feel real trapped if he didn't know that he could commit suicide at any moment."
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Context: Joe Hill was an Swedish labor activist who played a substantial role in the Industrial Workers of the World labor union in the early 20th century. A thorn the side of the establishment, he was accused of murder (based on dubious evidence) and sentenced to death by firing squad. When the deputy shouted, "Ready ... Aim ..." Hill interjected, "Fire!" He died on November 19, 1915 at 36.
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Context: "And don't make a mess of it," Morant yelled in the face of a firing squad, exemplifying true badassery in its purest form. He was a military commander during the Second Boer War in Africa, and he was accused of war crimes under still-disputed circumstances. After his death in 1902, Morant remains an Australian folk legend for his wartime heroics.
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Context: So punny it's not even funny. American criminal James French was supposed to live out a life sentence after murdering a man who picked him up hitchhiking. He didn't want to commit suicide, so he killed his cellmate in order to be executed. As he sat on the electric chair, he offered a bit of advice to the press.
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Context: Quattrocchi was an Italian security officer who was taken hostage by Islamic militants in 2004. They filmed him and told him to dig his own grave and kneel beside it. But Quattrocchi remained defiant till the bitter end. He pulled off his hood and shouted, "I'll show you how an Italian dies!" They shot him in the back of the neck, and the video was never released because it was too gruesome.
Context: The social reformer and clergyman who championed women's suffrage, abolition, and temperance died of a stroke on March 6, 1887. The night before drifting off into oblivion, he uttered these final words.
Context: On April 18, 1882, Charles Darwin had a severe heart attack in the middle of the night. He was recently diagnosed with coronary thrombosis and knew it was coming to an end. Recognizing his imminent death, he awoke and stated to his son, "I am not the least afraid to die." The great naturalist died in England, and the ballsiness of such a final statement is something we can all aspire to.
Context: On April 15, 1912, bandleader Wallace Hartley and a few musicians attempted to quell Titanic passengers' horror. Until the very last moments of the ship sinking, the band kept playing. As the waves crashed on his bandmates and death swiftly came, he called out to his friends, "Gentlemen, I bid you farewell." He was found two weeks later floating in the icy Atlantic fully dressed with his violin case strapped to his body. A newspaper reported that Hartley's act "will rank among the noblest in the annals of heroism at sea."
Context: During the Salem Witch Trials, courts would impose awful torture techniques to get those accused to plea. One witch by the name of Giles Corey refused. He died of pressing, an old colonial trick to get people to talk, which involved placing large rocks and boulders on top of a board that lay on top of the body, systemically crushing people to death.
Knowing he wouldn't be offered a fair trial, Corey simply requested more weight. As his eyes bulged and his tongue protruded from his face, he continued screaming, "More weight," right up until his last breath. He was 71.
Context: Nostradamus suffered pangs of gout that made much of his final years unbearable. The famous French seer spent his life predicting future occurrences, and his last one rang unequivocally true. On July 1 1566, he told his secretary that he wouldn't be alive the next day. An alternative quote is, "You will not find me alive at sunrise." The next morning she found him dead on the floor next to his bed.
Context: A theoretical physicist whose life is glittered with scientific accomplishments had surgery on two rare forms of cancer. It didn't save him. Moments before death, he acknowledged the mundane nature of death. He was 69.
Context: He was a convicted murderer facing execution in 1995 for the killing of two women. While not exactly manly, one could agree his last words expressed zero fear of death.
Context: "No more games. No more bombs. No more walking. No more swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitch. No fun - for anybody. 67. You're getting greedy. Act your old age. Relax - this won't hurt." Thompson always knew he'd stare death in the eyes and take his own life. He told his friend 25 years previously that "he would feel real trapped if he didn't know that he could commit suicide at any moment."
Context: Joe Hill was an Swedish labor activist who played a substantial role in the Industrial Workers of the World labor union in the early 20th century. A thorn the side of the establishment, he was accused of murder (based on dubious evidence) and sentenced to death by firing squad. When the deputy shouted, "Ready ... Aim ..." Hill interjected, "Fire!" He died on November 19, 1915 at 36.
Context: "And don't make a mess of it," Morant yelled in the face of a firing squad, exemplifying true badassery in its purest form. He was a military commander during the Second Boer War in Africa, and he was accused of war crimes under still-disputed circumstances. After his death in 1902, Morant remains an Australian folk legend for his wartime heroics.
Context: So punny it's not even funny. American criminal James French was supposed to live out a life sentence after murdering a man who picked him up hitchhiking. He didn't want to commit suicide, so he killed his cellmate in order to be executed. As he sat on the electric chair, he offered a bit of advice to the press.
Context: Quattrocchi was an Italian security officer who was taken hostage by Islamic militants in 2004. They filmed him and told him to dig his own grave and kneel beside it. But Quattrocchi remained defiant till the bitter end. He pulled off his hood and shouted, "I'll show you how an Italian dies!" They shot him in the back of the neck, and the video was never released because it was too gruesome.