Deathbed statements

Beyond the grave: take a look at the last words of 12 famous people

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Throughout history, hundreds of historical figures have left their mark on the world through their marvelous achievements. When their lives came to an end, their last words were often a reflection of their lives and ideals. From George Washington and Mark Twain to Frank Sinatra and Leonardo Da Vinci, in this article, we will reveal 12 final words of memorable personalities.

Image: The New York Public Library

After serving two terms as the United State's first president, George Washington retired to his Virginia plantation. In mid-December 1799, he developed a cold and a severe sore throat. Despite doctors' efforts to cure him, the end was imminent.

His long-time secretary, Tobias Lear, was at his side during his last days and documented all the events that transpired, including the former president's last words. According to his account, shortly before he took his last breath George Washington said "Tis well" —an old-fashioned way of saying "everything is okay."

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Noir icon of perpetual elegance and rebellious charisma, Humphrey Bogart is an undisputed legend in cinema history. A Hollywood Golden Age star, Bogart is still remembered today for his scar on his upper lip, his everlasting cigarette, and his perfect portrayal of gangsters and detectives.

At the age of 57 Bogart was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, for which he was hospitalized for several months. According to lore, the legendary star's last words were "I should never have switched from scotch to martinis." However, his wife Lauren Bacall confirmed that the last thing he actually said was "Goodbye Kid. Hurry back," before she left his bedside to get their children.

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As one of the greatest American writers of all time, Mark Twain is usually credited with all sorts of great quotes that he often didn't say. For that reason, there are different versions of what his last words were before he died in 1910 at the age of 74.

The most plausible theory can be found in an article published one day after his death. According to this chronicle, Samuel Langhorne Clemens' last words were not spoken aloud but written. The famous humorist and essayist reportedly wrote to his daughter Clara, who accompanied him on his bedside, "Give me my glasses."

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Joan Crawford, the Oscar winner for Mildred Pierce and one of the greatest stars of Hollywood's golden age, died in 1977 of a heart attack.

The actress, who had a complicated personality, was true to her nature until her last breath. She was so ill that her doctor felt it wasn’t worth taking her to the hospital. One of her nurses began to pray aloud in desperation. Losing her patience, Crawford snapped for the last time and said, "Damn it... Don't you dare ask God to help me."

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The year 2024 marked the 700th anniversary of the death of the man who better described remote lands. Marco Polo was a merchant who spent more than 20 years of his life traveling through the Orient and wrote about his adventures in a book that became a bestseller when the printing press wasn’t even invented.

Marco Polo was, and still is, a legend. When, on his deathbed, his wife and friends begged the brave explorer to confess if what he had told in the book was true, he barely whispered: "I have not told the half of what I saw and did."

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Julius Henry Marx, better known as Groucho Marx, is considered one of the most influential comedians of all time. The man with the bushy black mustache was one of the Marx Brothers. Together they made 13 films, including the classic Duck Soup. After a long and prominent career, Groucho passed away in Los Angeles in 1977 at the age of 86.

His brilliant one-liners are still remembered and replayed to this day, so it is not surprising that not one but several final words are attributed to him. A few close friends have suggested that his last line was "This is no way to live!", while most suggest that his last words were in fact dedicated to his wife: "Die, my dear? Why, that's the last thing I'll do!"

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Voltaire, the French writer, philosopher, historian, and lawyer, one of the major figures of the Enlightenment, died in 1778 at the age of 83. Different accounts of his deathbed make it impossible to determine exactly what his last days were like.

One of these stories, however, is consistent with his ideas about God and his well-known criticism of the Church. According to this version, when the priest asked him if he wanted to renounce Satan before he died, Voltaire replied, "This is no time to make new enemies."

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L. Frank Baum was a prolific American author. He wrote 55 novels, 82 short stories, and more than 200 poems. However, his most memorable work is his series of children's fantasy books The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

On May 5, 1919, Baum suffered a heart attack. He died the next day, shortly before his 63rd birthday. Disturbed by the imminence of death, he whispered to his wife: "Now we can cross the Shifting Sands," a clear reference to the Land of Oz.

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Augustus, the first Roman emperor, is often attributed with the phrase: "Behold, I found Rome of clay, and leave her to you of marble," alluding to the great infrastructural works carried out during his prosperous 40 years of rule.

However, according to other historical accounts, his last words were addressed to the friends who stayed with him on his deathbed: "Have I played the part well? Then applaud, as I exit."

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"Darling, you've gone through worse and you can beat this too. You have to fight," implored Barbara Marx, Frank Sinatra's fourth wife, to her beloved on his deathbed. "I'm losing," The Voice whispered through teary eyes.

Barbara recounted the last hours of the singer of such hits as My Way and New York, New York in her memoir Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank. Frank Sinatra, one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century, pronounced his last words in 1998 at the age of 82.

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Despite being one of the most famous artists of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci was very hard on himself. All his life he challenged his own limits, evident in his paintings and sculptures as well as in his inventions, some of which were truly revolutionary.

Even after a lifetime of success, he wasn’t quite satisfied. When he suffered a stroke at the age of 67, he sent for a priest to receive the Holy Sacrament and, according to historians, his greatest regret was that he hadn’t achieved excellence with his work. In that sense, it is said that his last words were: "I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."

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The Yankee Clipper was one of the greatest baseball players of all time but he is also known for having been married to the iconic American actress Marilyn Monroe. Joe and Marilyn were together for less than three years. In 1955 the actress left him for American playwright Arthur Miller.

DiMaggio was devastated. He never married again, and never got over his one true love. His last words before he died in 1999 at the age of 84 were: "I'll finally get to see Marilyn."

Tour the South through language

Southerners speak in code, but we're here to decode them

Maybe you’ve heard someone say they’re "fuller than a tick" after Thanksgiving dinner, or thought your next-door neighbor was "too big for his breeches." These old Southern expressions have been floating around front porches, family reunions, church socials, and kitchen tables for generations. Most know what they mean, but few know where they came from. As it turns out, the stories behind these sayings are every bit as intriguing as the expressions themselves. Here’s the story of 10 Southern favorites.

Everyone has seen it happen: A coworker gets promoted, a neighbor wins a local election, or a young athlete becomes the star of the team. At first, everyone is happy for them, but soon they start acting as if ordinary rules don’t apply to them. Before you know it, people are already whispering they are too big for their breeches.

This classic Southern criticism is aimed at people whose egos have grown faster than you can tell. One of its earliest recorded appearances came in 1835 when frontiersman and Congressman Davy Crockett used it while discussing President Andrew Jackson. Over time, parents, teachers, and grandparents adopted the expression as a gentle warning against arrogance. In a region that traditionally valued humility and neighborliness, getting "too big for your breeches" was often a sign that a person needed a reality check before life delivered one.

You’re not a true grandparent until you show your grandkids’ pictures to your friends and proudly say the baby is "pretty as a speckled pup." One of the South's warmest compliments, the expression describes someone who is exceptionally cute or charming.

The saying emerged in the rural South and Appalachian Mountains during the late 1800s, where hunting dogs were an important part of everyday life. Puppies with spotted coats, particularly breeds like Bluetick Coonhounds and English Setters, were admired for their distinctive markings and irresistible appearance. Southerners, known for turning everyday observations into colorful language, began comparing attractive children and young women to these beloved pups. Some families even embellished the phrase, describing someone as "pretty as a speckled pup with a ribbon around its neck."

We’ve all been there. The holiday meal is over, you’ve had seconds of the mashed potatoes, a slice of pie, and maybe another helping of stuffing. Then someone offers dessert, and all you can do is lean back and say you're "fuller than a tick."

This vivid expression means being completely stuffed after eating, and its roots go back much further than many people realize. Records show similar versions existed as early as the 1600s. The comparison comes from the appearance of ticks after they've fed. These tiny creatures swell dramatically, becoming several times larger than their normal size. The phrase became especially common after large Sunday dinners, church suppers, and holiday feasts, where refusing another helping was practically impossible. Even today, few expressions paint a clearer picture of overeating.

Social life is important, but there’s always a time during a meeting when you just want to stand up, say you’re "going to see a man about a horse," and head back home. You know everyone will nod, no questions asked, and that’s because you’ve used a polite way to leave the meeting without explaining much about why you’re actually going.

The expression dates back to the mid-1800s. One of the earliest known examples appeared in an 1866 stage play called Flying Scud, written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. Funnily enough, the phrase gained special popularity during Prohibition in the United States, because it could disguise a trip to buy illegal alcohol. Part of its charm lies in its deliberate vagueness. Everyone understands it means something else, but good manners keep anyone from asking for details.

Have you ever argued with someone who simply refuses to change their mind? A debate might go on for hours, so, eventually, you might throw up your hands and say you could discuss the issue "'til the cows come home."

The roots of this expression, which refers to doing something for a very long time, stretch back more than 400 years. One recorded example appears in a language textbook published in 1593. The imagery comes from farm life, where cows often wandered slowly back to the barn at their own leisurely pace. In parts of Scotland, cattle sometimes grazed for months before returning home, which may have influenced the saying’s development. Southern speech preserved many old British expressions that disappeared elsewhere, and this one fit perfectly with the region’s love of colorful exaggeration. It’s hard to imagine a more relaxed timetable than waiting for cattle to decide when they’re ready to come back.

You’re searching for your car keys, you’ve checked every room twice, and now they’re somehow sitting on the kitchen counter where you had already checked before. That’s when many Southerners go, "What in the Sam Hill is going on?"

The phrase refers to the state of confusion, frustration, or surprise without resorting to profanity. And even if linguists can’t trace back its origin, they all agree it was born out of the need to be polite, even when shocked. For earlier generations, especially in churchgoing communities, it’s preferable to use milder expressions, avoiding making direct references to hell. "Sam Hill" is one of those creative substitutes. Although who Sam Hill is is as much of a mystery as where the expression comes from.

Everyone knows someone who gets irritated when things don’t go their way. When that frustration reaches a boiling point, Southerners might describe the person as "madder than a wet hen." And it’s not a surprise that the vivid imagery comes directly from farm life.

Hens that are sitting on eggs can become fiercely protective and remarkably bad-tempered. Farmers discovered that dipping a broody hen in cool water sometimes interrupted the behavior and encouraged the bird to return to its normal routine. Unfortunately, the soaking often left the hen quite unhappy. Anyone who has encountered an angry wet chicken can appreciate how the comparison developed. The phrase became a way to describe someone whose temper has clearly gotten the better of them.

You know that feeling when you open a cluttered garage and discover enough tools, screws, and spare parts to stock a hardware store? If you’d lived in the South, you might hear someone say there’s "more than Carter has pills".

Referring to an enormous quantity of things, the expression originated with Carter’s Little Liver Pills, a patent medicine introduced by Samuel J. Carter in Pennsylvania in 1868. The company became famous for relentless advertising campaigns that appeared in newspapers, magazines, and storefronts across the country. For decades, Americans saw the product promoted as a remedy for everything from constipation to headaches. The ads were so widespread and the pills so plentiful that people naturally began using the company as a benchmark for abundance. Before long, anything that existed in huge quantities had "more than Carter has pills."

You’ve probably encountered a door marked "pull" and tried to push it, only to become increasingly frustrated when it didn’t open. That’s exactly the kind of situation that inspires the remark, "Ain’t got the sense God gave a billy goat." That is to say, someone lacks common sense.

The humor comes from comparing a person’s judgment to that of a billy goat, an animal not generally celebrated for wisdom. The popularity of the phrase in Southern culture is a reflection of how the local scenery influenced language, in a place where livestock were familiar reference points in everyday conversation. Rather than calling someone foolish outright, the humor and exaggeration of the phrase softens the sting while still making the point perfectly clear.

Imagine spending hours worrying about a minor problem, only to realize later that it really didn’t matter at all. That’s when an older Southerner might tell you, "It doesn’t amount to a hill of beans."

The expression means something has little value or importance, and its story begins with agriculture. During the 1800s, farmers commonly planted beans in small hills. Because beans were inexpensive, easy to grow, and abundant, a single hill of beans wasn’t worth very much. Earlier English writers had already used beans as symbols of low value, but Americans added the farming imagery that made the expression memorable. And it received an extra boost in 1942, when Humphrey Bogart delivered the famous line in Casablanca: "The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." More than eighty years later, the saying remains as useful as ever.