Death

—  Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer

     (his last words)

—  Andy Warhol, 1928-1987, American artist

—  T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948

—  Virgil, 70-19 BC, Roman poet

—  Emile M. Cioran, 1911-1995, French-Romanian philosopher

—  Eugene O’Neill, 1888-1953, American playwright, Nobel 1936

     (his last words)

—  Martial, 43-104 AD, Roman poet of epigrams

—  Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898, German chancellor

—  Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, 1906-1966, Polish author of maxims

—  Wilson Mizner, 1876-1913, American playwright

     (on his deathbed)

—  Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist

—  Arthur Clarke, 1917-2008, British Sci-Fi writer

—  William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English poet & playwright ‐ Julius Caesar

—  Julius Caesar, 100-44 BC, Roman general & Consul

—  Antonio Porchia, 1885-1968, Italian-Argentinian poet

—  Wallace Stevens, 1879-1955, American poet

—  Thales of Miletus, 643-548 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

—  Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor

—  Steve Jobs, 1955-2011, American businessman

—  La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, French writer

—  George Santayana, 1863-1952, Spanish-American philosopher

—  Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904, Russian writer

—  Marlen Dietrich, 1901-1992, German-American actress

—  Vladimir Nabokov, 1899-1977, Russian-American writer

—  John Dryden, 1631-1700, English poet

—  Wilson Mizner, 1876-1913, American playwright

     (telegram to his ill brother)

—  André Malraux, 1901-1976, French writer & statesman

—  Lao-Tzu, 6th cent. BC, Chinese philosopher

—  Eric Hoffer, 1902-1983, American writer & philosopher

—  Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French writer, Nobel 1957

—  Bob Dylan, 1941-, American singer [Nobel 2016]

—  Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904, Russian writer

—  James Barrie, 1860-1937, English writer

—  Edgar Cayce, 1877-1945, American mystic & prophet

—  Charles Caleb Colton, 1780-1832, English cleric & writer

—  Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939, Austrian psychologist, founder of psychoanalysis

—  William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English poet & playwright ‐ King Lear

—  E. M. Forster, 1879-1970, British writer

—  Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet

—  Donald Rumsfeld, 1932-2021, American politician

—  Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer

—  Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher

—  André Malraux, 1901-1976, French writer & statesman

—  Théophile Gautier, 1811-1872, French poet & writer

—  Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer

—  Robert Oxton Bolt, 1924-1955, British playwright

—  Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer

—  Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915, American writer

—  Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986, Argentine writer

—  Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer

—  Tagore, 1861-1941, Indian poet, Nobel 1913

—  Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist

—  Vladimir Nabokov, 1899-1977, Russian-American writer

—  Italo Calvino, 1923-1985, Italian writer

—  Marcel Prevost, 1862-1941, French writer

—  George S. Patton, 1885-1945, American general

—  Emile M. Cioran, 1911-1995, French-Romanian philosopher

—  Michel de Montaigne, 1533-1592, French thinker

—  Manolis Doukides, Greek writer

Aujourd'hui maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas.

—  Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French writer, Nobel 1957

     (first sentences of “The Stranger”)

—  Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French writer

—  Gabriele D’ Annunzio, 1863-1938, Italian poet

—  Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, British-Polish writer

—  Wolinski, 1934-2015, French cartoonist

—  Alphonse Allais, 1854-1905, French humorist

—  François-René de Chateaubriand, 1768-1848, French poet & politician

—  Paul Carvel, 1964-, Belgian author of maxims

—  Guy de Maupassant, 1850-1893, French writer

—  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter

—  Bill Vaughan, 1915-1977, American journalist

—  Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Bohemian writer

—  Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Bohemian writer

—  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter

—  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter

—  George Eliot, 1819-1880, English writer

—  Oliver W. Holmes Sr., 1809-1894, American writer

—  Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1880, French writer

—  Honoré de Balzac, 1799-1850, French writer

—  Aldοus Huxley, 1894-1963, English writer

—  Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet

—  Bertolt Brecht, 1898-1956, German writer

—  André Malraux, 1901-1976, French writer & statesman

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

—  William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic

—  Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer

—  Théophile Gautier, 1811-1872, French poet & writer

—  W.H. Auden, 1907-1973, British poet

—  Jorge Luis Borges, 1899-1986, Argentine writer

—  Maurice Chapelan, 1906-1992, French author of maxims & journalist

—  Maurice Chapelan, 1906-1992, French author of maxims & journalist

—  Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014, Colombian writer

—  Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014, Colombian writer

—  Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014, Colombian writer

—  James Barrie, 1860-1937, English writer

—  José Saramago, 1922-2010, Portuguese writer [Nobel 1998]

—  Stephen King, 1947-, American author of horror & fantasy fiction

—  Saul Bellow, 1914-2005, Canadian-American writer, Nobel 1976

—  Vespasian, 9-79 AD, Roman Emperor

     (when he sensed imminent death)

—  Milan Kundera, 1929-2023, Czech writer

—  André Breton, 1896-1966, French writer, founder of Surrealism

—  François Rabelais, 1484-1553, French writer

     (Hia last words)

—  François-René de Chateaubriand, 1768-1848, French poet & politician

—  François-René de Chateaubriand, 1768-1848, French poet & politician

—  Alphonse de Lamartin, 1790-1869, French poet

—  Stendhal, 1783-1842, French writer

—  Molière, 1622-1673, French playwright

—  Anais Nin, 1903-1977, French writer

—  Cardinal Richelieu, 1585-1642, French cardinal & Prime minister

—  Yevgeny Kaseyev, contemporary Russian author of maxims

—  Charles Bukowski, 1920-1994, American writer

—  Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849, American writer

—  Vespasian, 9-79 AD, Roman Emperor

     (dying, suffering from severe diarrhea)

—  Ashleigh Brilliant, 1933-2025, British cartoonist & epigrammatist

Memento mori.

—  Latin phrase

Vivamus, moriendum est.

—  Seneca, 5 AD-65 AD, Roman philosopher

Mors ultima ratio.

—  Latin proverb

Nascentes morimur.

—  Latin phrase

Omnia mors aequat.

—  Latin phrase

Mors certa, hora incerta.

—  Latin phrase

Vixere.

—  Cicero, 106-43 BC, Roman orator & statesman

     (after the execution of the participants in the Catilinarian conspiracy; meaning: “they are dead”)

Non omnis moriar.

—  Horace, 65-8 BC, Roman poet

Omnes una manet nox.

—  Horace, 65-8 BC, Roman poet

—  Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer

—  T. S. Eliot, 1888-1965, British poet, Nobel 1948

—  Robert Frost, 1874-1963, American poet

—  John Dryden, 1631-1700, English poet

—  Andreas Kalvos, 1792-1869, Greek poet

—  Louise Glück, 1943-2023, American poet, Nobel 2020

—  Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet

—  Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, American poet

—  Woody Allen, 1935-, American actor & film director

—  Henry Youngman, 1906-1998, American comedian

—  Mark Twain, 1835-1910, American writer

—  George Burns, 1896-1996, American comedian

—  Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007, American writer

—  Sam Goldwyn, 1879-1974, American film producer

—  George Burns, 1896-1996, American comedian

—  Jerry Seinfeld, 1954-, American comedian

Ον γαρ οι Θεοί φιλούσιν, αποθνήσκει νέος.

—  Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy)

Θάνατος των ανηκέστων κακών ιατρός.

—  Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian

Πάσιν ημίν κατθανείν οφείλεται.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Alcestis

Κρείσσον γαρ εισάπαξ θανείν ή τας απάσας ημέρας πάσχειν κακώς.

—  Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Prometheus Bound

Ο θάνατος ουδέν προς ημάς· το γαρ διαλυθέν αναισθητεί· το δ' αναισθητούν ουδέν προς ημάς.

—  Epicurus, 341-270 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Ο θάνατος τυγχάνει ων, ως εμοί δοκεί, ουδέν άλλο ή δυοίν πραγμάτοιν διάλυσις, της ψυχής και του σώματος απ’ αλλήλου.

—  Plato, 427-347 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Ανοήμονες ζωής ορέγονται θάνατον δεδοικότες.

—  Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Τον τεθνηκότα μη κακολογείν.

—  Chilon of Sparta, 6th cent. BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece

Το φρικωδέστατον ουν των κακών ο θάνατος ουθέν προς ημάς͵ επειδήπερ όταν μεν ημείς ώμεν͵ ο θάνατος ου πάρεστιν͵ όταν δε ο θάνατος παρῇ͵ τόθ΄ ημείς ουκ εσμέν.

—  Epicurus, 341-270 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Θανάτου μόνον ουκ έστιν επανόρθωμα.

—  Menander, 4th cent. BC, Ancient Greek dramatist (New Comedy)

Ευκλεώς τοι κατθανείν χάρις βροτώ.

—  Aeschylus, 525-456 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Agamemnon

Ευημερών μέμνησο και του θανάτου.

—  Aesop, 620-560 BC, Ancient Greek fabulist

Νέκυες κοπρίων εκβλητότεροι.

—  Heraclitus, 544-484 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Κατθανών δε πας ανήρ γη και σκιά, το μηδέν εις ουδέν ρέπει.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Meleager

Ούτω ο μεν θάνατος μοχθηρής εούσης της ζόης καταφυγή αιρετωτάτη τω ανθρώπω γέγονε.

—  Herodotus, 480-420 BC, Ancient Greek historian, the “ father of History”

Κακώς ζην κρείσσον ή καλώς θανείν.

—  Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Iphigeneia at Aulis

Ουδέν τον θάνατον διαφέρει του ζήν.

—  Thales of Miletus, 643-548 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Φαύλοι βροτών γαρ του πονείν ησσόμενοι θανείν ερώσιν.

—  Agathon, 450-400 BC, Ancient Greek tragic poet

Εύκολος η εις άδου οδός· καταμύοντας γουν απιέναι.

—  Bion of Borysthenes, c. 325-255 BC, Ancient Greek Cynic philosopher

Πας ώσπερ άρτι γεγονώς εκ του ζην απέρχεται.

—  Epicurus, 341-270 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Εκ του βίου κράτιστόν εστιν υπεξελθείν ως εκ συμποσίου, μήτε διψώντα, μήτε μεθύοντα.

—  Aristotle, 384-322 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Θανέειν πέπρωται άπασι.

—  Pythagoras, 580-490 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

Κοινωνία γαρ ψυχή και σώματι διαλύσεως ουκ έστιν η κρείττον.

—  Plato, 427-347 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

     (here: union=birth, separation=death)

Τέρμα οράν βιότοιο.

—  Solon, 630-560 BC, Ancient Greek lawmaker & philosopher

Πας ώσπερ άρτι γεγονώς εκ του ζην απέρχεται.

—  Epicurus, 341-270 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher

—  American Indian proverb ‐ Blackfoot

—  from the film Alphaville (1965)

—  from the film Bananas (1971)

—  from the film Alphaville (1965)

—  from the film Night of the Living Dead (1968)