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Winston Churchill: "I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter."

Mourners pack St. Paul's Cathedral in London to see the coffin of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at his state funeral in 1965.

Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Aside from leading England through World War II, this two-time British Prime Minister was probably best known for his wit -- which is clearly displayed in this epitaph. Churchill first uttered this quip on his 75th birthday, when a reporter asked him if he was afraid of dying (which he obviously was not). When Churchill did die of a stroke, on January 24, 1965 at the age of 90, the words were permanently inscribed on his gravestone at St. Martin's Church, Bladon in Oxfordshire. Apparently he was ready to go, as his last words reportedly were, "I'm so bored with it all."

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  • 20: John Yeast: "Here lies Johnny Yeast. Pardon me for not rising."
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  • 18: Jesse James: "Murdered by a traitor and a coward whose name is not worthy to appear here."
  • 17: Ludolph van Ceulen: "3.14159265358979323846264338327950"
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  • 13: From a Maryland cemetery: "Here lies an atheist. All dressed up and no place to go."
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  • 8: Hank Williams: "I'll never get out of this world alive."
  • 7: Dee Dee Ramone: "OK...I gotta go now."
  • 6: Frank Sinatra: "The best is yet to come."
  • 5: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty I'm Free at Last."
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  • 3: Mel Blanc: "That's all folks!"
  • 2: John Belushi: "He could have given us a few more laughs, but nooooo."
  • 1: Winston Churchill: "I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter."
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