The Ultimate Collection of Manly Last Words

We’ve put together a list of manly last words from some famous figures in history. May (some of) their words and (some of) their deeds continue to inspire us!

• “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” — Nathan Hale, American patriot, 1776
• “Show my head to the people. It is worth seeing.” — Georges Danton, French revolutionary, 1794
• “Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.” — Oscar Wilde, writer, 1900
• “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” — General John Sedgwick, U.S. Civil War, 1864
• “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” — Leonardo da Vinci, polymath, 1519
• “Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius; pay it and do not neglect it.” — Socrates, philosopher, 399 BC
• “We’ll start the war from right here.” — Theodore Roosevelt Jr., U.S. Army officer, 1944
• “Is it the Fourth?” — Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President, 1826
• “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” — John Adams, U.S. President, 1826
• “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” — Stonewall Jackson, Confederate general, 1863
• “Strike, man, strike!” — Sir Walter Raleigh, writer and adventurer, on the scaffold, 1618
• “I am still learning.” — Michelangelo, artist, 1564
• “A king should die standing.” — King Louis XVIII of France, 1824
• “I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.” — George Washington, U.S. President, 1799
• “I am going to sleep now. Goodnight.” — Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. President, 1919
• “Doctor, I am dying.” — Lord Byron, poet, 1824
• “My work is done.” — John Quincy Adams, U.S. President, 1848
• “Here, hold my hand; I feel I am going.” — General William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army, 1912
• “More light!” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, 1832
• “I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.” — Thomas Hobbes, philosopher, 1679
• “It is very beautiful over there.” — Thomas Edison, inventor, 1931
• “Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar.” — Julius Caesar, Roman leader, 44 BC

• “I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge; I pardon those who have occasioned my death.” — Louis XVI of France, 1793
• “Don’t let poor Nelly starve.” — Charles II of England, 1685
• “I must go in, the fog is rising.” — Emily Dickinson, poet, 1886
• “My days are past as a shadow that returns not.” — Andrew Jackson, U.S. President, 1845
• “I am about to die, and that is the last of it.” — Lord Palmerston, British Prime Minister, 1865
• “It matters little how one begins, provided that one goes on well, and ends well.” — Francis Bacon, philosopher, 1626
• “Don’t cry for me, for I go where music is born.” — Johann Sebastian Bach, composer, 1750
• “Do not disturb my circles.” — Archimedes, mathematician, 212 BC, killed by a Roman soldier
• “All my possessions for a moment of time.” — Elizabeth I of England, 1603
• “I die with the help of too many physicians.” — Alexander the Great, 323 BC (attributed)
• “I am not the least afraid to die.” — Charles Darwin, naturalist, 1882
• “Don’t worry, it’s not loaded.” — Terry Kath, guitarist for Chicago, 1978
• “How were the receipts today at Madison Square Garden?” — P. T. Barnum, showman, 1891
• “I am still alive!” — Gaius Caligula, Roman emperor, AD 41 (before being finished off)
• “Now comes the mystery.” — Henry Ward Beecher, preacher, 1887
• “Go on, get out. Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.” — Karl Marx, philosopher, 1883
• “Now, gentlemen, let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter.” — Admiral Horatio Nelson, moments before Trafalgar, 1805
• “Thank God, I have done my duty.” — Admiral Horatio Nelson, dying at Trafalgar, 1805
• “I hope the people of England will be satisfied. I am satisfied.” — William Pitt the Younger, British Prime Minister, 1806
• “I die innocent.” — Maximilien Robespierre, French revolutionary, 1794
• “Don’t give up the ship!” — Captain James Lawrence, U.S. Navy, War of 1812

We hope you enjoyed our list of manly last words! For something similar from me, see Funny Place Names Across the UK.