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We often wonder what goes through a person's mind during their final moments. Join us as we explore the poignant, powerful, and sometimes unexpected messages that notable personalities shared with the world before their passing. These profound statements offer unique insights into their lives, their beliefs, and their hopes for humanity, leaving a lasting impact on all who heard them. From heartfelt calls to action to philosophical reflections, prepare to be moved by these unforgettable farewells.
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00:00Billy and Georgia, these words are for you. I tried.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at moving words of wisdom and calls to action
00:11shared by public figures as they faced their mortality.
00:15By the way, how are you? What are you fighting for?
00:20Don't Lose Hope, Jane Goodall
00:22The improbably high-profile career of scientist Jane Goodall was built on
00:27insights into primates' human behavior.
00:30No, because I think the next 25 years are going to be even more exciting than the first.
00:34See, the chimps live, they have a life cycle of about 50 years,
00:38so I haven't even yet covered half of one complete life.
00:42It ended with a call to empathize with the whole world.
00:46Goodall was a prominent environmental activist into her 90s, who put her life and views into
00:51perspective on the inaugural episode of Netflix's Famous Last Words, featuring interviews with
00:57dying public figures. The show premiered two days after Goodall passed from natural causes on
01:02October 1st, 2025. She concluded with a speech about how there's always hope for having a positive
01:09impact on the world.
01:10But your life matters, and you are here for a reason, and I just hope that that reason will
01:17become apparent as you live through your life.
01:20She believed in the afterlife, but that we should consider the lives after our own.
01:25Goodall could distill people's most beautiful instincts to the end.
01:30And even today, where the planet is dark, there still is hope. Don't lose hope.
01:38May suffering belong to no one. David Lynch
01:41Behind the morbid genius of filmmaker David Lynch was a wholesomely eccentric persona.
01:47Even that aspect of his increasingly sporadic career declined after he was diagnosed with
01:52emphysema in 2020. He was last seen in a remotely streamed speech for the 2024 gala for his
01:58philanthropic venture, Meditate America.
02:01And this nothing is the transcendent. It's the unified field. It's no hyphen thing. It's pure
02:11consciousness.
02:12He was in good spirits as he discussed his philosophy on the subconscious and finding
02:17transcendence. He then led a prayer for peace, health, and happiness for all.
02:22May suffering belong to no one.
02:26Several months later, on January 16th, Lynch's own health was terminally affected by wildfires
02:32in Los Angeles. But he leaves behind many resonant expressions of the world's dark side,
02:37as well as an enthusiastic plea to build on the bright.
02:41I say watching a Lynch movie is like when you're a kid and you spin around for fun.
02:45Part of the fun is being disoriented. And that is true of David Lynch's work as well.
02:50This tortoise could save a life.
02:51Alan Rickman
02:52Families mostly recognize Alan Rickman's commanding voice in sinister roles like Severus
02:58Snape of the Harry Potter series. Shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2015,
03:03the actor used that voice to help families.
03:06The only problem was being 1976 that you're having to wear and being English.
03:10You never take your tie off and you never take your jacket off.
03:13Yes.
03:14And it's 100 degrees.
03:15He narrated a viral video for the charities Save the Children and Refugee Council,
03:21in which he explains the use of a tortoise eating a strawberry as clickbait to raise ad revenue.
03:26This charming, unpretentious PSA explains how simply consuming a charity's content can fund its cause.
03:32As this tortoise munches away, it works like this. The more views the video gets,
03:40the more advertising revenue YouTube will give us.
03:43The video received millions of views following Rickman's passing just one month after it was published on YouTube.
03:49This last job sealed his legacy as not only a great actor, but a great person.
03:54Had what is described as a Rickman-off.
03:58It's a famous game people play.
04:00A Life is Like a Garden
04:01Leonard Nimoy
04:03Since becoming an icon of intellectual sci-fi through Star Trek,
04:07actor Leonard Nimoy spread wisdom to the world for almost 50 years.
04:11Would it harm you to give response?
04:15Live long and prosper.
04:17Social media allowed him to make it more personalized in the years leading up to his death from cancer in
04:22February of 2015.
04:24His final tweet was,
04:26A life is like a garden.
04:28Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.
04:32The message was punctuated by LLAP, for live long and prosper.
04:37The weight of Spock's classic mantra was renewed by Nimoy's simple yet meaningful gesture of existentialism.
04:44While he had many compelling roles to commit to memory, the philosophical importance of the one was solidified in that
04:50perfect moment.
04:51Since my customary farewell would appear oddly self-serving, I shall simply say, good luck.
04:59Love, Laughter, and Truth
05:01Bill Hicks
05:02Maverick's stand-up comic, Bill Hicks, educated fans on post-Reagan society and helped them laugh through the madness.
05:09He was just starting to gain major mainstream momentum when he was diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer in 1993.
05:17When the diagnosis was pancreatic cancer, is it true that he moved back into home with you, folks?
05:22Yes, he did.
05:23Yeah. That must have been a wonderful time in an odd way, of course.
05:27In an odd way it was. It was a privilege.
05:29Hicks acknowledged this tragic irony in a written statement that his family published after his passing in 94.
05:35He also addressed how this put into perspective the identity and legacy he was able to cultivate in 32 years,
05:42with the hope that he would inspire others.
05:44We can change it anytime we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of
05:50money. A choice right now between fear and love.
05:53Sure enough, Hicks' brief career had a lasting impact on modern stand-up and edgy intellectualism.
06:00His final essay alone has been immortalized as the satirist's poignant tribute to the chaos of life.
06:06I think deep down inside, Bill was an activist.
06:09It wasn't Bill's style to be a part of any kind of mob or group or anything like that.
06:13I mean, Bill was going to do things in his own way.
06:16To Billy and Georgia, Eric Dane
06:19The imposingly charismatic actor Eric Dane showed his vulnerable side after he was diagnosed with ALS in 2025.
06:26As his health declined over the next year, he remained in the public eye to share the difficult realities of
06:32his condition.
06:33My right side has completely, completely stopped working.
06:38And then your left arm is fine?
06:42No, it's going.
06:44The day after he died on February 19th, 2026, Netflix's famous Last Words released his final interview.
06:51He ultimately gave a speech to his daughters, Billy and Georgia, about finding joy even in the darkest of times.
06:59Vowing to demonstrate how to fight with dignity, Dane closed with...
07:03Good night. I love you. Those are my last words.
07:08It's really a message to all that idols are humans too, and that those suffering most can stay strong.
07:15One of the most important things is to make it not frightening.
07:17It's to make us talking about death as not frightening.
07:21It is the only thing, besides birth, that we all share.
07:24Farrah's story, Farrah Fawcett.
07:26In 2006, legendary TV actress Farrah Fawcett was diagnosed with cancer.
07:31Has he given Farrah a prognosis? Has he given her time?
07:37No.
07:37Rather than hide away, one of the great beauty icons of her day invited audiences to witness the final year
07:43of her life in 2009.
07:45The NBC documentary Farrah's story initially split audiences with its graphic depiction of Fawcett's treatment and everyone coming to terms
07:53with her fate.
07:54You know, like a dog that's been to the vet too many times, about the fifth or sixth time, when
08:00they start to go, shake all over and clip on the floor.
08:04This controversy was compounded by a legal battle over final cut rights, with producer Craig Nevius alleging that Fawcett's critique
08:11of the American healthcare system was tamed.
08:14To what extent Farrah's story respected the subject's final wishes, sharing every reality of her condition with the world set
08:20a great deal about her courage.
08:23Just Don't Smoke
08:24I smoked, and I smoked a lot since I was a kid, just to appear macho.
08:31Of all of Yul Brynner's iconic screen appearances, his last held particular weight.
08:36He sat down with Good Morning America in 1985 to discuss his impending death from cancer after a lifetime of
08:43smoking.
08:43He expressed a desire to do a posthumous anti-smoking PSA, in which he'd say,
08:49Now that I'm gone, I tell you, don't smoke.
08:52Thus, Brynner collaborated with the American Cancer Society to isolate that soundbite for a commercial that aired after his death.
08:59Its popularity marked a watershed moment in the use of actual cancer patients as spokespeople for anti-tobacco campaigns.
09:06Even in his most vulnerable state, Brynner never faltered in his inspiring strength.
09:11If I could take back that smoking, we wouldn't be talking about any cancer. I'm convinced of that.
09:16A Leave of Presence
09:18Even after losing his lower jaw to cancer, renowned film critic Roger Ebert never lost his way with words.
09:26People with problems like mine should get on with their lives and not hide because of it.
09:31I don't want to look this way, but I do, so please don't make it your problem.
09:37His final blog post reported that 2012 was his most prolific year as a writer.
09:42A Leave of Presence furthermore stated his intention to step back from his website to focus on other projects,
09:49and writing only when he wants to.
09:52Instead, Ebert passed away just two days after the article was published.
09:56There was never a time when anyone told me I would never speak again. Naturally, I felt awful, but I
10:04had to accept reality.
10:06Not simply heartbreaking, A Leave of Presence represents how one can be excited for a future that seems unlikely.
10:13He seemed particularly eager to update the public on his health.
10:17Thankfully, there's a bright future ahead for Ebert's legacy.
10:20He was like a teacher for us all, grading the entertainment provided by Hollywood for decades.
10:25Roger Ebert, best known for his giving either a thumbs up or a thumbs down of the new films at
10:30the Silver Screen, died today of cancer.
10:38Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's Audio, Songs from Iran,
10:44reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs.
10:48Check out the full track and album below.
11:07For all his majesty in music and philanthropy, queen frontman Freddie Mercury was very private about his personal life.
11:14There were speculations about his health years before he confirmed his AIDS diagnosis in a statement released on November 23rd,
11:211991.
11:22He died the very next day.
11:24That's the wrong way to go about it, as far as I'm concerned.
11:27I mean, they should be aware of what you want to do.
11:29Mercury withheld his condition literally to the last minute in order to avoid public scrutiny and stigma.
11:35Choosing to take control of the narrative, he encouraged the world to, quote,
11:39fight against this terrible disease.
11:42I don't have time to be their victim, their AIDS poster boy, their cautionary tale.
11:47No, no, I decide who I am.
11:50Mercury's message galvanized the LGBTQ plus community and mainstream sympathies at the height of the AIDS crisis.
11:57It was a historic testament to how artists dedicate their lives to inspiring, even at the very end.
12:03There have been tributes to his talent and his courage from friends and from fans.
12:08The health minister, Mrs. Virginia Bottomley, predicted his death would have a big impact in preventing the spread of AIDS.
12:13What are some other famous last words of inspiration?
12:16Give your statement in the comments.
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