69 Epitaph Quotes to Inspire and Reflect On

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Famous Epitaphs Quotes

Can't' will be the epitaph of the British Empire - unless we wake up in time. — Oswald Mosley

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. - Thomas Moore

Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. — Thomas Moore

This is the epitaph I want on my tomb: Here lies one of the most intelligent animals who ever appeared on the face of the earth. — Benito Mussolini

Over the epitaph of this generation it will say ENTERTAINED TO DEATH. — Paul Washer

Cast a cold eye on life, on death Horseman pass by — William Butler Yeats

Let there be no inscription upon my tomb; let no man write my epitaph: no man can write my epitaph. — Robert Emmet

Let me tell you how the story ends, where the good guys die and the bad guys win. It doesn't matter how many friend you make, but the graffite they write on your grave. — Gerard Way

I wanted to know that if I ever got killed, I got killed doing something worthwhile. — Michael J. Massimino

The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude. — Thornton Wilder

They who forgive most shall be most forgiven. — William Blake

Short Epitaphs Quotes

  • Music, when soft voices die Vibrates in the memory. — Percy Bysshe Shelley
  • Warm summer sun, shine kindly here. — Mark Twain
  • When I die, my epitaph should read: She Paid the Bills. That's the story of my private life. — Gloria Swanson
  • I have only one ambition left: I should like to have a good epitaph. — Otto von Bismarck
  • I picture my epitaph: 'Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown. — Paul Newman
  • Wit is the epitaph of an emotion. — Friedrich Nietzsche
  • Epitaph: An inscription on a tomb showing that virtues acquired by death have a retroactive effect. — Ambrose Bierce
  • The epitaphs on tombstones of a great many people should read: Died at thirty, and buried at sixty. — Nicholas Murray Butler
  • Poet: gardener of epitaphs. — Octavio Paz
  • And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! — William Shakespeare

Good Epitaph Quotes

If the whole human race lay in one grave, the epitaph on its headstone might well be: 'It seemed like a good idea at the time.' — Rebecca West

Epitaphs are cheap, and they do a poor chap a world of good after he is dead, especially if he had hard luck while he was alive. I wish they were used more. — Mark Twain

Till the master of all good workmen shall set us to work anew. — Rudyard Kipling

An epitaph is a belated advertisement for a line of goods that has been discontinued. — Irvin S. Cobb

People Writing About Epitaphs

Name Quotes Likes
Read quotes by Oswald Mosley

Oswald Mosley
quotes on leadership, success and education

13 908
Read quotes by Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore
quotes on death, soul and education

53 565
Read quotes by Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini
quotes on fascism, democracy

125 3997
Read quotes by Paul Washer

Paul Washer
quotes on marriage, salvation and prayer

175 7331
Read quotes by William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats
quotes on education, life and love

587 3319
Read quotes by Robert Emmet

Robert Emmet

9 88

More Epitaphs Quotes

History fades into fable; fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy; the inscription molders from the tablet: the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns, arches, pyramids, what are they but heaps of sand; and their epitaphs, but characters written in the dust? — Washington Irving

I will be satisfied if my epitaph shall be written thus: 'Here lies one who never rose to any eminence, who only courted the low ambition to have it said that he striven to ameliorate the condition of the poor, the lowly, the downtrodden of every race and language and color.' — Thaddeus Stevens

Augie: Does everybody else know? T.C.: About my epitaph? Augie: About me being gay, you gink-head hoser-face! T.C. Not everybody. There's a night watchman at a Dunkin Donuts just outside of Detroit. He doesn't know yet. — Steve Kluger

I desire no other epitaph - no hurry about it, I may say - than the statement that I taught medical students in the wards, as I regard this as by far the most useful and important work I have been called upon to do. — William Osler

A mortgaged home, an empty stomach and a ragged back know no party. We will live to write the epitaphs of the old parties: "Died of general debility, old age, and chronic falsehoods." — Mary Elizabeth Lease

Live so that when the final summons comes you will leave something more behind you than an epitaph on a tombstone or an obituary in a newspaper. — Billy Sunday

"Gun-wielding recluse gunned down by local police" isn't the epitaph I want. I am hoping for "Witnesses reported the sound up to two hundred kilometers away" or "Last body part finally located". — James Nicoll

I would like to think that Ive left the world of cardiovascular surgery better than when I found it. That would be a suitable epitaph. — C. Walton Lillehei

I wish to have as my epitaph: 'Here lies a man who was wise enough to bring into his service men who knew more than he.' — Andrew Carnegie

Here the whole world (stars, water, air, And field, and forest, as they were Reflected in a single mind) Like cast off clothes was left behind In ashes, yet with hopes that she, Re-born from holy poverty, In lenten lands, hereafter may Resume them on her Easter Day." (Epitaph for Joy Gresham) — C. S. Lewis

If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC — Kurt Vonnegut

Let no man write my epitaph. When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written. — Robert Emmet

For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart. — Pericles

An angel visited the green earth, and took a flower away. — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I don't want an epitaph on my gravestone that says, 'He would have pursued some big dreams in his life, but other people wouldn't let him. — Tom Peters

She did it the hard way. — Bette Davis

The first shall be last and the last shall be first. — Killah Priest

Those who say that life is worth living at any cost have already written an epitaph of infamy, for there is no cause and no person that they will not betray to stay alive. — Sidney Hook

To live in the hearts of others is not to die — Thomas Campbell

A journalist once asked me what I would like my epitaph to be and I said I think I would like it to be 'He did very little harm'. And that's not easy. Most people seem to me to do a great deal of harm. If I could be remembered as having done very little, that would suit me. — Paul Eddington

A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others. — Marcus Aurelius

The rarest quality in an epitaph is truth. — Henry David Thoreau

Every sin is a mistake, as well as a wrong; and the epitaph for the sinner is, "Thou fool!" — Alexander Maclaren

When the leaves fall, the whole earth is a cemetery pleasant to walk in. I love to wander and muse over them in their graves. Here are no lying nor vain epitaphs. — Henry David Thoreau

His epitaph: Who, by vigor of mind almost divine, the motions and figures of the planets, the paths of comets, and the tides of the seas first demonstrated. — Isaac Newton

In Conclusion

Quotes about epitaphs can be both poignant and thought-provoking. They encapsulate the essence of a person's life, capturing their values, achievements, and the impact they had on others. Such quotes offer a unique perspective on mortality, encouraging us to reflect on the brevity of life and contemplate our own legacies. By contemplating these quotes, we gain a deeper understanding of the human experience and the profound significance of our actions and relationships.

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