Famous Peoples' Epitaphs

William Shakespeare
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon, England

Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.

Edgar Allan Poe
Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland

Quoth the Raven nevermore

Louis Leakey (physical anthropologist)
Limuru, Kenya

"Wakaruigi"
"Son of Sparrow Hawk"

You live on
In the minds you inspired
In the projects you pioneered
In the lives you improved and created
In the hearts that loved you
You cannot die.

Thomas Jefferson
Monticello, Virginia

Author of the declaration of American independence
Of the state of Virginia for Religious freedom
And father of the University Of Virginia

Karl Marx
Highgate Cemetery, London, England

Workers of all lands unite, The Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.

Anonymous
Saint James Cemetery, Toronto, Canada

When I am dead and in my grave
And all my bones are rotten.
While reading this you'll think of me
When I am long forgotten!

Abe Bell (manufactured fireworks)
Boston, Masachusetts

He has gone to the only place
Where his own works are excelled

Here are some funny examples from around the world:

Here lies the body of Richard Hind,
Who was neither ingenious, sober or kind.

Poet H.J. Daniel's epitaph for his wife:

To follow you I'm not content
How do I know which way you went?

Lawyer Sir John Strange:

Here lies an honest lawyer,
And that is Strange.

Julian Skaggs of West Virginia:

I made an ash of myself.


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