Dying is said to be unpleasant, but that’s no excuse for misrepresenting yourself. While it is exceedingly rare for a person to die precisely as they lived, it is also rare that his last words in some way – either through coincidence, irony or beautiful fate – illustrate the life he once led. Such an accomplishment merits a Top 10 celebration.
10. Del Close (1934-1999) – “Thank God. I’m tired of being the funniest person in the room.”As an actor and teacher his tremendous influence on so many notable comedians from 1960s New York City through today’s cast of Saturday Night Live renders his last words deliberately humble and impossibly untrue.
  9. Voltaire (1694-1778) – “Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.” This writer and philosopher who used lucid arguments and a sharp wit to fight for such novel concepts as freedom of religion and the right to a fair trial. In death, he would not even deny the devil.
  8. Davy Crockett (1786-1836) – “I’m warning you boys, I’m a screamer.” Humor from this American folk hero at such a final moment is precisely what posterity needs from its heroes to assure us that, even before execution, the end is not nearly as scary as imagined.
  7. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) – “I did not know that we had ever quarreled.” The author of such free-thinking tracts as “Walden” and “Civil Disobedience” lived according to conscience. Any other answer to his aunt’s urging that he make peace with God would have compromised his singularly independent life.
  6. Pancho Villa (1878-1923) – “Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said something.”Viewed as the modern day Robin Hood of Mexico, the famous last words of this one-time peasant turned revolutionary governor accurately portray the man rather than the legend, as he hinted at his own humanity.
  5. Carl Panzram (1891-1930) – “Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard; I could kill 10 men while you’re fooling around.”Before his execution, Panzram called himself “rage personified.” He claimed 21 murders and more than 1,000 rapes.
  4. Joan Crawford (1905-1977) – “Damn it … Don’t you dare ask God to help me.” Despite her Catholic upbringing, Crawford rejected divine assistance with the same fearless indifference to authority that got her through four decades in Hollywood, six adopted children and four husbands.
  3. Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) – “Adieu, mes amis, je vais à la gloire.” (Farewell my friends, I go to glory)Isadora Duncan left an influential mark on the world of dance with her highly dramatic interpretations. Her last words go down in infamy for the tragic irony of her death, that exceeded her own dramatic flair.
  2. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) – “These curtains are killing me; one of us has got to go.”As one of the greatest writers of all time, his last words show that he died as he lived, with the sharpest tongue in the English language.
  1. Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) – “I should never have switched from scotch to martinis.” While the roles that made Bogart famous typify the deliberate and unapologetic man’s man and consummate ladies’ man, off-screen, Bogie was legit and his personality didn’t vary much from his on-screen roles.
Information compiled from askmen.com.