![]() Even in times of great triumph, it seems the Romans understood the importance of understanding the great impermanence of life. The idea here is that the general should be reminded of his own mortality. In these accounts, it is said that a public slave or companion would stand near this celebrated general during the procession. In some retellings of these events, something curious was also occurring. The general would wear a laurel crown and a purple toga embroidered with gold. These ceremonies were held after a military victory and would celebrate a military commander who was responsible for the win. The Roman triumph, which was a religious rite and civil ceremony that occurred in the time of ancient Rome, is also thought to have had a prominent display of the memento mori motif. In the work of Plato where Socrates’ death is recounted, Phaedo, states that philosophy and its proper practice is simply “about nothing else but dying and being dead.” The ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus also practiced his own form of keeping the reality of death close by in the form of regularly visiting tombs and going into solitude. Let us balance life’s books each day…The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.” Other Instances in Classical Antiquity “Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. In his Moral Letters to Lucilius, he said: Seneca the Younger also urged others to remember death. “Death smiles at us all all we can do is smile back.” “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” “Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. ![]() If you’re interested in incorporating the knowledge of death into your daily life, Marcus Aurelius has many great quotes to inspire this meditation: He believed it was essential to always remember one’s death in order to guide one’s actions in the present. Marcus Aurelius made many notes about the inevitability of death that ended up being published in his Meditations. The Stoics knew that wasting time was wasting the precious gift of life, and they emphasized using one’s time wisely.Įpictetus told his students that “the supreme of human evils, the surest mark of the base and cowardly, is not death, but the fear of death.” He instructed them to build self-discipline against the fear of death and incorporate the knowledge of it into their lives.Īccording to a quote from Epictetus, this is the “only path to human freedom.” When you understand that you’re going to die and remember this fact, you can look at each day as a gift. However, when you’re able to grasp that you will one day die and there is no escaping this, it can also help you work to create meaning in your life and prioritize the things that matter most to you. In modern times, we tend to see discussion of death in any capacity as morbid and depressing. Though it might seem counterintuitive, the Stoics used the practice of meditating on death to help invigorate their lives. We may feel like we don’t have much in common with people from ancient times, but the reality is that we will all meet the exact same fate that they do. Once you’re aware of the concept of memento mori, you start to see it everywhere you look when you’re waltzing through the tales of history. The English pronunciation of memento mori is: The Stoic philosophers were particularly prominent in the practice of meditating on death. If you’ve been bopping around the growing online community surrounding the philosophy of Stoicism, you’ve probably bumped into this term. The Latin term memento mori means “remember that you must die.”Īccording to the Oxford Languages dictionary, it’s a noun that describes “an object serving as a warning or reminder of death, such as a skull.” Merriam-Webster defines the term as “a reminder of mortality.”Īrtists and thinkers across cultures and religions have incorporated this artistic or symbolic motif in a way that intends to remind us all about the inevitability of death. ![]() "Memento Mori": Remember Death to Truly Live “Memento Mori” Meaning: What Does It Mean?
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