Surfing the Inner N8

 More famous last words:

(10) Ludwig van Beethoven: “Friends applaud, the comedy is over.”

(9) Albrecht von Haller, Swiss physician and scientist: “My friend, the artery ceases to beat.”

(8) George Jacques Danton, French revolutionary, giving instructions to his executioner: “Show my head to the people.  It is worth seeing.”

(7) Our very own local, Stephen Decatur: “I am mortally wounded, I think.”

(6) Thomas Favras de Mahay, French revolutionary, on being handed his death sentence as he was led to the scaffold: “I see that you have made three spelling mistakes.”

(5) Edmund Gwenn, actor: “Dying is easy.  Comedy is difficult.”

(4) German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Hegel: “Only one man ever understood me.  And he really didn’t understand me.”

(3) 19th-century British surgeon Joseph Henry Green, after checking his pulse while sick: “Stopped.”

(2) British musician John Field, when asked whether he was a Papist or a Calvinist: “I am a pianist.”

And #1, which doubles as the all-time grossest understatement:

(1) Luther Burbank, American horticulturist: “I don’t feel good.”