“No matter what people will tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” … I ended my last post about Robin Williams’ death with this quote, and over the course of the few hours since then, it has got me to thinking … Was this quote actually from Robin, or was it one of the few times he did not improvise the lines in his movies? I quickly reminded myself that it doesn’t really matter — that wisdom is wisdom, no matter its original source (if there even is such a thing).

And then I got to thinking again: Seeing as how Robin Williams birthed & developed & honed so much Meaning via his words; via his over-the-top cleverness & wit, I began to wonder what his last words were — about the final slice of genius to come forth from that remarkably brilliant brain and that remarkably gentle Heart … By all indications, we won’t ever know. Like my brother before him, Robin left no suicide note, and unlike my late brother’s “keeper”*, Robin’s family seems keen on respecting his post-mortem privacy … Though admittedly not that important in the grand scheme of things, those interested will probably be left to wonder; and will probably be better off leaving such wondering behind, in favor of getting out there to live while the living’s good.

(*Even though he might gave wished otherwise had he been asked, I chose to make my “Tribute to Todd” a most public one in the Blog of this very website.)

And yet, as these Robin-inspired revelations were fading, I began to ponder “last words” in general — how they somehow DO often shine an extra significance; how they somehow DO often more lucidly relay deeper wisdoms; how they DO somehow often serve to more intensely inspire us to go forth and live our own lives more Meaning-fully.

So I decided to do some research into “last words”, and came up with the following gems … May you be motivated by them to courageously embrace your Calling; may you be encouraged by them to persevere through times of rejection or ridicule; and may you be amused by them in times of despair or darkness.

P.S. And yes, in case you were wondering, their order from first to last was indeed arranged purposefully … So enJOY!

… A FEW FAMOUS (& some not-so-famous) LAST WORDS …

“No comment.” ~ Edward Abbey

“No … I have no final statement.” ~ Lawrence Brewer

“I’ve said all that I’ve had to say.” ~ Bill Hicks

“Last words are for fools who haven’t already said enough.” ~ Karl Marx

“What time is it? Never mind … That’s not important.” ~ Janos Arany

“Pardon me, sir. I did not do it on purpose.” ~ Marie Antionette (said to her executioner, after she inadvertently stepped on his foot while approaching the guillotine)

“Now I can cross the shifting sands.” ~ L. Frank Baum (author of The Wizard of Oz)

“Not one statesman in a position of responsibility has dared to pursue the only course that holds out any promise of peace … Political passions, once they have been fanned into flame, always exact their victims.” ~ Albert Einstein

“All my possessions for a moment of time.” ~ Queen Elizabeth I

“Either the wallpaper goes or I do.” ~ Oscar Wilde

“Father, Father … Why have you forsaken me?” ~ Jesus Christ (quoting the first verse of the surprisingly uplifting 22nd Psalm in Mark 15:34; essentially saying “It’s been an honor to serve you fully & completely, Dad.”)

“Die, my dear? Why, that’s the very last thing I’ll do!” ~ Grouch Marx

“Waiting are they? Well … Let them wait.” ~ Ethan Allen (responding to an attending doctor, who had just offered the gentle words: “General, I fear the angels are waiting for you.”)

“Take a step forward, lads. It’ll be easier that way.” ~ Robert Childers (said to his firing squad, during the Irish Civil War)

“I am about to die — or I am going to die; either expression is correct.” ~ Dominique Bouhours (a French grammarian)

“It is good.” ~ Immanuel Kant (ironically, his ultimate “moral imperative”)

“God bless … God damn.”~ James Thurber

“Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.” ~ Voltaire (when asked by a priest to renounce Satan)

“Wait a minute.” ~ Pope Alexander VI

“I did not know that we had ever quarreled.” ~ Henry David Thoreau (after his aunt had asked him if he had made his peace with God)

“I feel great.” ~ Pete Maravich (said seconds before his death during a pickup basketball game)

“It’s all been rather lovely.” ~ John Le Mesurier,

“I am about to take my last voyage; a great leap in the dark.” ~ Thomas Hobbes

“I am off in search of the great perhaps.” ~ François Rabelais

“I die hard, but am not afraid to go.” ~ George Washington

“The fog is rising … I must go in.” ~ Emily Dickinson

“Why not? … Yeah.” ~ Timothy Leary

“Beautiful.” ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning (n reply to her husband who had asked how she felt)

“I love many things; I love all people.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

“Make the world better.” ~ Lucy Stone (abolitionist & activist)

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” ~ Crowfoot

P.P.S. No matter what anyone one day says or writes to the contrary, my own last words (no matter when I one day happen to say them) are hereby officially noted to be:

“First, discern the devils in your dogma;
Second, soothe the sufferings of the sentient;
Last … be Kind when least inclined.”

I realize that this is a mouthful to get out while taking one’s last breath, and yet these 20 words encompass the three primary reasons I have chosen to Be; the three main messages I have chosen to share while I am still alive … So even if I don’t actually get them out of my mouth before I pass onward, know that I was most certainly thinking them at the time — and report them as uttered anyway …

 

Filed under: Wisdoms from the Journey by Scaughdt