Independence forever.
—John Adams
My Paetus, it is not painful.
—Arria
Have I not played the farce of life well?
—Augustus Caesar
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the—
—The Venerable Bede
I shall hear.
—Beethoven (deaf)
Why are you not happy? You die innocent, and all your family follow you, to partake with you the recompense of virtue.
—Madame de Bois Beranger (to her mother, who was executed, together with her father, brother and sister)
Is not this dying with true courage and true greatness?
—Madame de Berry
It is a great consolation to a poet about to die that he has never written anything injurious to virtue.
—Boileau
No; I am ready at any time. But do not keep me needlessly waiting.
—John Brown (to the hangman)
Let the earth be filled with His glory.
—Bishop Broughton
Please play Mozart's Requiem.
—Ole Bull
Take me, for I come to thee.
—John Bunyan
I am satisfied; I die content.
—William Burrows
I must sleep now.
—Byron
I die contented.
—William Campbell
Quite comfortable; quite happy; nothing more.
—Dr Robert Chambers
Lord; into Thy Hands I commend my spirit!
—Charlemagne
Remember.
—Charles I to William Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury
Ah! Jesus.
—Charles V
Thy will be done.
Sir Edward Coke
I have such sweet thoughts.
—Prince Consort
I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb.
—Alford Cookman
Now, O Lord, set free thy servant.
—Copernicus
Lord Jesus, Receive my spirit.
The unworthy hand. Lord, receive my spirit.
—Archbishop Cranmer (holding his right hand in the flame)
I will kneel only to my God.
—Lieut. Crittenden (shot on being ordered to kneel)
My desire is to make what haste I may to be gone. Then I am safe.
—Cromwell
Jesus!
—King Edward
I am faint; Lord have mercy on me; receive my spirit.
—Edward VI
Trust in God, and you need not fear.
Jonathan Edwards
He who noteth even the fall of a sparrow will have some purpose even in the fate of one like me.
—Col E. Ellsworth
Lord, receive my spirit.
—Farr
We all are going to heaven, and Vandyke is of the company.
—Gainsborough
More Light! Let the light enter.
—Goethe
Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
—Lady Jane Grey
I have no ill will against Colonel Burr. I met him with a fixed determination to do him no harm. I forgive all that happened.
—Alexander Hamilton (to Bishop More and Rev. Dr Mason)
O, tie a rope around my body, and draw me out of bed, and lay me down upon the ashes, that I may die with prayers to God in a repentant manner.
—Prince Henry, son of Henry II
I am Harry, of Winchester.
—Henry III
Now, Lord; Lord, receive my soul.
—Herbert
Lord, receive my spirit.
—George Herbert
Now I am about to take my last voyage—a great leap in the dark.
—Hobbs
How grand these rays; they seem to beckon earth to heaven.
—Alexander von Humboldt
If I had strength to hold a pen, I would write down how easy and pleasant a thing it is to die.
—Dr William Hunter
If I die, I die unto the Lord. Amen.
—Irving
Let us cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees.
—Stonewall Jackson
I resign my spirit to God, my daughter, to my country.
—Thomas Jefferson
It is finished.
—Jesus Christ
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
—Jesus Christ
God be blessed.
—Joan-of-Arc
Jesus.
—Joan-of-Arc (at the stake, ending her eventful and stormy life)
God bless you, my dear!
—Dr Johnson (to Miss Morris)
God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
—Joseph the Patriarch
Napoleon.
—Josephine—Isle of Elba
God's will be done.
—Bishop Ken
Now it is come.
—Knox
Be of good comfort, Doctor Ridley, and play the man; we shall this daylight such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.
—Bishop Latimer (to Bishop Ridley)
By the arm of St James, it is time to die!
—Leicester
Ah! but I have been nearer to you, my friend, many a time, and you have missed me.
—Sir George Lisle
O; the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
—John Locke
I will enter now into the house of the Lord.
—Louis IX
Why weep ye? Did you think I should live forever. I thought dying had been harder.
—Louis XIV
My God, enlighten and affect my executioner. Adieu, my children, my beloved ones, forever! I am going to your father.
—Marie Antoinette
Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
—Mary, Queen of Scots
I am ready.
—Charles Matthews
O my poor soul, whither wilt thou go?
—Cardinal Mazarin
Nothing but heaven.
—Melancthon (to the question, Do you want anything?)
My soul I resign to God, my body to the earth, and my worldly goods to my next of kin.
—Michael Angelo
O Allah, be it so! Henceforth, among the glorious hosts of paradise.
—Mohammed
Lord, pardon me, and place me among those whom thou hast raised to grace and favour.
—Mohammed
Patty; joy!
—Hannah More
I thank God I have done my duty.
—Nelson
There is another and better country. [This was a line in the part he was acting].
—Palmer (the actor on the stage)
May God never forsake me!
—Pascal
Jesu.
—Pizarro
Let down the curtain; the farce is over.
—Rabelais
Open the window, that I may see the beauties of Nature.
—Rousseau (to his wife)
Many things are growing plain and clear to my understanding.
—Schiller
I feel as if I were myself again. God bless you all!
—Sir Walter Scott
I shall be happy.
—Archbishop Sharpe
I know that my Redeemer liveth. I die for the good old cause.
—Algernon Sidney
Let me behold the end of this world with all its vanities; or, I would not change my joy for the empire of the world.
Sir Philip Sidney
O Lord, my God!
—Joseph Smith
I have loved God, my father, and liberty.
—Madame de Stael
I thank God I am no more afraid of death, nor daunted with any discouragement arising from any fears, but do as cheerfully put off my doublet at this time as ever I did when I went to bed.
—Stratford
I am not afraid to die; I am ready; I have endeavoured to do my duty.
—Zachary Taylor
Christ is all.
—Tewksberry (a noted London martyr)
Ut puto dcus fio. (I think I am becoming a god).
—Vespasian, the Roman Emperor
It is well.
—Washington
I still live.
—Daniel Webster
The best of all is, God is with us. Pray and praise.
—John Wesley
I commend my soul to Mary.
—William, the Conqueror
Make way for liberty.
—Arnold Winkelried
I die contented.
—General Wolfe
J. R. Francis, The Encyclopaedia of Death and Life in the Spirit World—Opinions and Experiences from Eminent Sources, The Progressive Thinker Publishing House, Chicago,1903
Barbed wire of a fence at Strandbadweg, Dülmen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (2016) | Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons | CC BY-SA 4.0
