People have always been intrigued by last words. Maybe they conveyed some hidden wisdom. Here is a list of the last words of 10 of ten famous people in world history.

1. Archimedes, mathematician

“Stand away, fellow, from my diagram!”

Archimedes was killed during the Second Punic War. According to the historian Plutarch, a soldier came up to the mathematician and told him to go with him to Marcellus. Archimedes, however, refused to do so until he finished the problem he was working on. Enraged, the soldier killed him

2. Karl Marx, philosopher

“Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.”

3. Augustus Caesar, first Roman emperor

“I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble.”

4. Leonardo da Vinci, inventor and painter

“I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.”

5. Napoléon Bonaparte, French military and political leader

“France, the army, the head of the army, Joséphine.”

6. Charles Darwin, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory

“I am not the least afraid to die.”

7. Marie Antoinette, queen of France

“Pardon me. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
She reportedly said this after accidentally stepping on her executioner’s foot as she climbed the scaffold to the guillotine.

8. Michel de Nostradamus, French apothecary and alleged soothsayer

“You will not find me alive at sunrise.”

9. Richard Feynman, theoretical physicist

“I’d hate to die twice. It’s so boring.”

10. James Brown, singer and songwriter

“I’m going away tonight.”