Last Words

“Either this wallpaper goes or I do.” — Oscar Wilde. 

"I've never felt better." - Douglas Fairbanks

"I would rather be a servant in the house of the Lord than sit in the seat of the mighty." - Alben W. Barkley

"Don't let it end like this, tell them I said something." - Pancho Villa

"Lord, help my poor soul." - Edgar Allen Poe

"Oh, I am not going to die, am I? He will not separate us, we have been so happy!" -Charlotte Bronte (To her husband)

"I see the black light!" -Victor Hugo

"Go on, get out. Last words are for fools who haven't said enough." -Karl Marx

"Nothing, but death" -Jane Austen, when asked what she desired.

"Go to the rising sun; My sun is setting." - Marcus Aurelius 

"There is nothing more I can do to it now, and therefor I am not likely to be more ready to go than at this moment." - Ulysses S. Grant

The Doctor's various last words:
Ah, yes. Thank you. It's good. Keep warm.

No! Stop, you're making me giddy! No, you can't do this to me! No, no! No, no, no, no, no, no! No, no, no, no!

A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don't cry. While there's life, there's...

It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for.

Feels different this time...

Adric?

Carrot juice, carrot juice, carrot juice.

I've got to stop... him...

Physician, heal thyself.

I hope the ears will be less conspicuous this time.

 Before I go, I just want to say you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And you know what? So was I!   

I don't want to go!

Last words
It's strange, you have your whole life to prepare for them. And yet when the moment comes, will you know what to say? Suddenly every word you've ever said -the useless chatter and endless prattle you get hung up on sometimes - resonates within. Every word you've used and wasted up until this point, incalculable in number, seems mostly meaningless. Laying on your deathbed, with nothing but the memory of all the words you've ever said, will you be speechless?

You have your whole life to prepare for your final catchphrase. Used as a final declaration of love, an atonement for past sins, a last crack of wit, a confession, a summary of life, to impart precious knowledge and truth, as a testament of faith; a person's final words have untold potential worth.

But we don't live for our last words. That's not what life's about. That won't make the greatest difference. A final declaration of love is empty if that same sentiment went unspoken through the years leading up to this final moment. The knowledge shared in a dying breath still can't compare to that which could have been shared throughout the life that is now coming to a close..
 Life isn't about preparing for final words. It's about making every word up to that point count for something. Spend your words with care. Make them kind, make them honest, make them good, make them wise. So that at that final moment, you won't have to worry about saying something good or profound. You won't have to say anything at all. Because if you make the most of each of the words throughout your life, the best will rise in the memories of those to whom they were spoken, or were touched by them. The good words of a life well spent will rise through the years, and lift you into eternity.