I've been reading "Famous Last Words," compiled by Ray Robinson. Here are some notable deathbed sayings that struck me.
STILL THINKING OF WORK
P.T. Barnum - "How were the circus receipts in Madison Square Garden?"
Restaurant owner Fred Harvey - "Don't cut the ham too thin."
Politician Huey Long - "God, don't let me die. I have so much to do." (I can relate to this one!)
WITTY
Lady Astor (known for her acid wit, as she awoke and saw family gathered around her) - "Am I dying or is this my birthday?"
Irish author Brendan Behan (speaking to the hospital nun) - "Bless you, Sister, may all your sons be bishops."
REGRET
John Wilkes Booth - "Tell my mother I died for my country. I thought I did it for the best. Useless, useless..."
Lyricist Lorenz Hart - "What have I lived for?"
FEISTY
Laurence Olivier (when his nurse spilled water on him giving him a drink) - "This isn't Hamlet, you know. It's not meant to go in my bloody ear!"
Henrik Ibsen (sitting up in bed to respond to his wife's assurance he would be well again) - "On the contrary!"
NOT ON DEATHBED, NOT EXPECTING TO DIE
Former vice-president Alben Barkley (quoting the Bible during a meeting) - "I would rather be a servant in the house of the Lord than sit in the seat of the mighty."
Union General John Sedgwick (standing up from cover to taunt his wary troops) - "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist____"
VISIONS
Stonewall Jackson - "Let us cross over the river and sit under the shade of the trees."
Playwright Luigi Pirandello - "The hearse, the horse, the driver - and enough!"
THANKFUL
Lou Costello (consuming his last beverage) - "That was the best ice cream soda I ever tasted."
George Washington - "I am about to die and am not afraid to die. I thank you for your attention, and I pray you to take no more trouble for me. Let me go quietly, I cannot last long."
RELIGIOUS (the category I aspire to be in, if given the chance)
Poet John Donne (quoting the Lord's Prayer) - "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."
Anne Boleyn - "Oh God, have pity on my soul."
James Buchanan - "Oh, Lord God Almighty, as thou wilt!"
Have you ever thought about what your last words would be? For myself, I hope that, whatever they are, God's praise will ever be on my lips.
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