Five Dancing Stars

Just before he was hanged, French aristocrat and Royalist Marquis de Favras read his death warrant. According to Victor Hugo, his last words were, “Permit me to point out that you have made three mistakes in spelling.” François-Marie Arouet was a French Enlightenment writer who went by the nom de plume Voltaire. He was often critical of religious dogma. As he lay on his death bed, his priest asked if he rejected Satan. “My good man,” Voltaire exclaimed, “now is not the time to make new enemies.” As Spanish Prime Minister Ramón María Narváez lay dying, he was asked if he forgave his enemies. “I don’t need to forgive them,” he replied, “I’ve had them all shot.” In November, 1900, Oscar Wilde was ill and impoverished in a hotel in Paris. Unhappy with his surroundings, he declared, “This wallpaper is killing me. Decidedly one of us will have to go.”