76 Epitaph Quotes to Inspire and Reflect On

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Famous Epitaphs Quotes

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

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

A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble. — Charles Spurgeon

Here lies one whose name was writ in water. — John Keats

The whole earth is the tomb of heroic men and their story is not given only on stone over their clay but abides everywhere without visible symbol woven into the stuff of other mens lives. — Pericles

The words 'Here you can find perfect peace' can be written only over the gates of a cemetery. — Gottfried Leibniz

Death comes to all, but great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

That would be a good thing for them to cut on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment. — Dorothy Parker

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. - Marcus Tullius Cicero

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. — Marcus Tullius Cicero

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

Tombs are the clothes of the dead and a grave is a plain suit; while an expensive monument is one with embroidery. — Richard Buckminster Fuller

On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.' — Earl Weaver

Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you. — Shannon Alder

MONUMENT, n. A structure intended to commemorate something which either needs no commemoration or cannot be commemorated. — Ambrose Bierce

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

Epitaphs Image Quotes

Good Epitaph Quotes

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

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! — William Shakespeare

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 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 Robert Emmet

Robert Emmet

9 88
Read quotes by Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon
quotes on prayer, faith and life

1502 14685
Read quotes by John Keats

John Keats
quotes on love, life and friendship

355 3505
Read quotes by Pericles

Pericles
quotes on democracy, death and ans

43 859

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

"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

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

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

The epitaphs on tombstones of a great many people should read: Died at thirty, and buried at sixty. — Nicholas Murray Butler

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

Poet: gardener of epitaphs. — Octavio Paz

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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