13 of the most famous last words in history

• There's something comforting about poetic, funny, or interesting last words.
• These quotations give us hope about facing death with dignity or even humor.
• From an early American patriot to a famous rock star, these individuals all died after uttering some particularly memorable last words.

We love famous last words.

There's a reason there are so many books listing memorable deathbed sayings throughout history out there. Perhaps we'd just rather believe well-known figures tend to die saying something clever and profound. It makes death itself a little less scary.

But, for that reason, final words can be quite tricky. As with any quotes on the internet — and historical quotes, in general — it's hard to sort out what's true and what's phony or exaggerated.

Here are several poignant, strange, or otherwise memorable last words from throughout history:

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Jane Austen

At the age of 41, the celebrated novelist suffered a painful death in 1817 from an unidentified disease — although Addison's or Hodgkin's lymphoma are potential culprits, according to the blog Science-Based Writing. Her final words were recorded by her brother Henry, according to "The New Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes."

Winston Churchill

In 1965, the British Prime Minister fell into a coma and died in his London home at the age of 90, according to the Phrase Finder. According to "The Private Lives of Winston Churchill," he was speaking to his son-in-law Christopher Soames, who had offered him some champagne.

Nathan Hale

Historians believe the 21-year-old school teacher-turned-spy was paraphrasing a line from the popular 18th century play "Cato" as he stood on the scaffold, according to the book "Cato's Tears and the Making of Anglo-American Emotion." The British hanged Hale after he was captured during a failed 1776 espionage mission in Long Island.