Archimedes, mathematician.
"Stand away, fellow, from my diagram!"
Archimedes was killed during the Second Punic War. According to the historian Plutarch, a soldier reportedly came up to the mathematician and told him to go with him to Marcellus. However, Archimedes refused to do so until he finished the problem he was working on. Enraged, the soldier killed him.
Source: "The Parallel Lives" by Plutarch, "Famous Last Words" by Laura Ward
Augustus Caesar, first Roman emperor.
To his subjects he reportedly said:
"I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble."
And to his friends who were with him throughout his reign he said:
"Have I played the part well? Then applaud me as I exit."
Source: History
Leonardo da Vinci, inventor and painter.
"I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have."
Source: Huffington Post
Marie Antoinette, queen of France.
After accidentally stepping on her executioner's foot as she climbed the scaffold to the guillotine, she reportedly said,
"Pardon me. I didn't do it on purpose."
Source: "Famous Last Words" by Alan Bisbort
Michel de Nostradamus, French apothecary and alleged soothsayer.
He made one last (correct) prediction when he said:
"You will not find me alive at sunrise."
John Adams, second president of the United States.
Adams and Jefferson started out as rivals, but became friends later in life. As Adams lay on his deathbed, on July 4, his last words were:
"Thomas Jefferson survives."
However, Jefferson had actually died some hours earlier — also on July 4.
Source: History
Ludwig van Beethoven, composer and pianist.
Some reports say that Beethoven, who was deaf by the end of life, said
"I will hear in heaven"
while others suggest that the said
"Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est" (applaud, friends, the comedy is finished).
However, still others say that after a publisher brought the composer 12 bottles of wine, his final words were:
"Pity, pity, too late!"
Source: "The Creative Circle" by Michael Fitzgerald, "Beethoven: The Man Revealed" by John Suchet, Classic FM
Thomas Edison, inventor and businessman.
Right before his death, Edison came out of a coma, opened his eyes, and reportedly said to his wife:
"It is very beautiful out there."
He was probably referring to the view outside of his window.
Source: WSJ, "Famous Last Words" by Laura Ward
Leonard Nimoy, actor
These might not be his last words, but Leonard Nimoy's last tweet was:
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP."
LLAP is short for "Live long and prosper," a saying made famous by Nimoy's Star Trek character Mr. Spock.
Source: Twitter
