Famous last words (sarcasm)

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This article is about sarcastic or humorous phrases characterised as "famous last words", not actual dying quotes. For actual phrases attributed to persons near death, see the article Wikiquote:Last words.

The term famous last words has become an expression in the English language for a quote, either fictional or true, that showed a lack of foresight. Often the term is uttered after someone makes a statement that expresses undue optimism, particularly about a task they plan to undertake. The person to whom the quote is attributed to, if a real person, may or may not have been near death when the quote was supposedly uttered. Often the quote will be based on the history, philosophy or profession of the atributee. A "famous last words" quote is often expressed in the form of a joke.

Famous last words are also a joke among players of role-playing games, as words, decisions, or actions that, while not the character's final words, are typically eventually or even directly responsible for, or related to, events ending in the death of that player's character (and sometimes, the entire party). These quotes are usually attributed to extreme cases of ignorance, arrogance, or stupidity.

[edit] Famous "famous last words"

  • "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."—Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society, 1895.
  • "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."—Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick, U.S. Army, just before being fatally shot at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, May 9, 1864.
  • "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."—attributed to Thomas J. Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
  • "Everything that can be invented has been invented."—Charles H. Duell, Commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents, 1899. This has been debunked as apocryphal by librarian Samuel Sass [[1]].
  • "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."—Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872
  • "640KB ought to be enough for anybody."—attributed to Bill Gates (although he denies ever saying it) 1981.
  • "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"—Harry Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
  • "That Professor Goddard with his 'chair' in Clark College and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react — to say that would be absurd. Of course, he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."—1921 New York Times editorial
  • "No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris."—Orville Wright.
  • "A guitar’s all right, John, but you’ll never earn your living by it."—John Lennon's Aunt Mimi
  • "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."—Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.
  • "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."—Maréchal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, L'École Supérieure de Guerre.
  • "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."—Decca Recording Co. on rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
  • "Forget it, Louis; no Civil War picture ever made a nickel." — Irving Thalberg's advice to Louis B. Mayer regarding Gone With the Wind
  • "Just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu" — Linus Torvalds on Linux [2]

[edit] References

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