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| Thurber,
James (1894-1961) |
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"God bless . . .God damn." |
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James Thurber was a U.S. cartoonist and
author who
often contributed
to The New Yorker magazine. In 1961, he was operated on
following
a blood clot on the brain. After making a partial recovery, he
contracted
pneumonia and died. |
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For more information:
|
| Tolstoy,
Leo (Nikolaevich), Count (1828-1910) |
|
"Even in the valley of the shadow of
death, two and
two do not make
six." |
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Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer who had
served as an
officer in the
Crimean War. He lived a life based upon pacifism and asceticism
and
rejected the teachings of the Orthodox Church. Even as he died,
Tolstoy
rejected friends who attempted to convince him to reconcile with the
church. |
|
Tolstoy's last words are also often
recounted as "But
the peasants,
how do they die?" |
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For more information:
|
| Trotsky,
Leon (1879-1940) |
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"I feel this time they have
succeeded. I do
not want them
to undress me. I want you to undress me." |
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Stalin seized control of the Soviet Union
after Lenin
died in 1924
and began a relentless effort to purge all possible rivals. Leon
Trotsky, who had been Lenin's principal assistant, was Stalin's biggest
threat. Fearing for his life, Trotsky left Russia in 1929, but
was
unable to convince any country to let him settle in exile.
Eventually,
Mexico agreed. During his absence, Trotsky was convicted of two
accounts
of treason by the Soviet courts and sentenced to death. As a
result,
Trotsky took great pains to secure his Mexican home. After a
machine
gun attack by the secret police in 1940, he built additional defensive
pillboxes, constructed a fifteen foot high wall surrounding his house,
and increased his staff of bodyguards. Later that summer, he
became
friends with a friend of a former employee, Frank Jackson.
Unfortunately
for Trotsky, Jackson was actually Ramon Mercader, a Spanish communist
who
had been sent by Stalin. One day, while Trotsky was meeting with
Jackson in his home office, Jackson struck him in the back of the head
with a mountaineer's ice ax. Trotsky ran screaming from the room
and collapsed saying "I feel . . ." He was taken to the hospital
where he spoke his final words to his wife while being prepared for
surgery. |
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For more information:
|
| Tucker,
Karla Fay (1960-1998) |
|
"I am going to be face to face with
Jesus now. . .
. I will
see you all when you get there. I will wait for you." |
|
In 1983, Karla Fay Tucker was found guilty
and
sentenced to die for
the murder of Jerry Dean and Deborah Thorton. Tucker, a
prostitute
and drug addict, used a pickax to viciously hack both of them to death
while they slept, leaving the three-foot long tool embedded in
Thorton's
chest. In her confession, Tucker graphically recounted how she
had
experienced sexual orgasms with each of the blows. While in
prison
awaiting decisions on her numerous appeals, Tucker became a darling of
American Christian fundamentalists--led by Pat Robertson--after she
married a prison missionary, shed a few crocodile tears, and claimed to
have accepted Jesus as her
savior.
Despite a massive public relations campaign by a bizarre alliance of
Amnesty
International and the religious right to have her sentence commuted to
life imprisonment, the State of Texas finally executed Tucker in 1998
for her heinous crime. |
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For more information:
|
| U.S.
Presidents |
|
George Washington |
"Tis well." |
|
John Adams |
"Thomas Jefferson still surv . . . ." |
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James Madison |
"Nothing more than a change of mind, my
dear." |
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James Monroe |
? |
|
John Q. Adams |
"I am composed." or "I am content." |
|
Andrew Jackson |
"Oh, do not cry. Be good children,
and we shall
all meet in Heaven." |
|
Martin Van Buren |
? |
|
William H. Harrison |
"I wish you to understand the true
principles of
government.
I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." |
|
John Tyler |
"Doctor, I am going. . . . Perhaps
it is best." |
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James Polk |
? |
|
Zachary Taylor |
'I am about to die. I expect the
summons very
soon. I have
tried to discharge my duties faithfully. I regret nothing, but I
am sorry I am about to leave my friends." |
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Millard Fillmore |
? |
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Franklin Pierce |
? |
|
James
Buchanan |
"Whatever the result may be, I shall carry
to my grave
the consciousness
that at least I meant well for my country." |
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Abraham
Lincoln |
(Laughter) |
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Andrew Johnson |
? |
|
U.S. Grant |
"Water" |
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Rutherford Hayes |
"I know that I am going where Lucy is." |
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James
Garfield |
"Swain, can't you stop this (pain)?
Swain!" |
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Chester Arthur |
? |
|
Grover
Cleveland |
"I have tried so hard to do right." |
|
Benjamin Harrison |
? |
|
William
McKinley |
"It's God's way. His will, not ours,
be done." |
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Teddy Roosevelt |
""Please put out the light." |
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William Taft |
? |
|
Warren Harding |
"That's good. . . . Read some more." |
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Calvin Coolidge |
? |
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Herbert Hoover |
? |
|
Franklin
Roosevelt |
"I have a terrific headache." |
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Harry Truman |
? |
|
Dwight
Eisenhower |
"I've always loved my children. I've
always loved
my wife.
I've always loved my grandchildren. I've always loved my country." |
|
John Kennedy |
"That's very obvious." |
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Lyndon Johnson |
? |
|
Richard Nixon |
? |
|
For more information:
|
| Vanderbilt,
William H. (1821-1885) |
|
"I have had no real gratification or
enjoyment of
any sort more
than my neighbor on the next block who is worth only half a million." |
|
William Vanderbilt was the son of the
famous railroad
tycoon, Cornelius
"Commodore" Vanderbilt. At the time of his death in 1885,
Vanderbilt's
fortune was about $200,000,000 |
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For more information:
|
| Vega
Carpio, Lope Felix de (1562-1635) |
|
"All right, then, I'll say it, Dante
makes me sick." |
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Vega Carpio was a prolific Spanish
playwright who wrote
more than 1800
plays.
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| Vespasian,
Titus Flavius Sabinus, Emperor (9-79) |
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"Woe is me, I think I am becoming a
god." |
|
Vespasian was a Roman emperor who rose
from humble
origins as a result
of his military accomplishments. He was pronounced Emperor to
resolve
potential conflict following the death of Nero, and he worked hard to
improve
the life of the common Roman citizen.
|
| Villa,
Francisco "Pancho" (Doroteo Arango) (1878-1923) |
|
"Don't let it end like this. Tell
them I said
something." |
|
Pancho Villa was a Mexican bandit,
revolutionary, and
folk hero.
He conducted a guerilla war against the national government for many
years
until he was granted amnesty and a hacienda in return for laying down
his
arms. He retired in Chihuahua, Mexico, but was assassinated by
supporters
of his long-time enemy, General Alvaro Obregon. Villa made his
last
request to newspaper reporters as he lay dying. |
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For more information:
|
|
Real
Last Words Index To Real Last Words - "W"
|
