The father of realism's last words were 'quite the contrary,' in response to a nurse saying he was doing better. He died the next day!

Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet whose major works include A Doll’s House, Ghosts, and The Master Builder. He’s actually the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare. And he went out like any playwright would like to; with a killer one liner that proved everyone in the room wrong.

In March of 1900, Ibsen suffered from a series of strokes at his home in Arbins. A visitor came to see him and asked the nurse how was doing. The nurse replied that he was doing better to which Ibsen responded, “on the contrary.” It was the last thing he said and the curtains fell the next day.

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