Memento Mori

Memento mori. It means to remember your death, i.e. remember that you must die. At first glance, the phrase sounds grim; in Stoic philosophy, it is anything but.

The Stoics did not reflect on death to become morbid or detached from life; they did so to see life more clearly. Death, in Stoic thought, is not something that is to be considered bad; it is a natural event, as ordinary as birth, change, or decay. What disturbs us is not death itself, but the judgments we attach to it.

Keep the prospect of death, exile and all such apparent tragedies before you every day - especially death - and you will never have an abject thought, or desire anything to excess. - Epictetus

To remember death is to remember to live. Our time is finite. Control, limited. And yet, with these limits, we are free to choose how we live. This awareness brings about a clarifying effect. When you remember that your time is not guaranteed, trivial frustrations lose their power. Status, approval, and minor inconveniences shrink to their proper size. What remains is the question Stoicism repeatedly returns to: How should I use the time I have been given?

Memento Mori is not about anticipating the end; it's about grounding yourself in the present. The Stoics believed that many of our anxieties come from liviing as though life were endless. You see, when we live like this, we postpone what matters. We tolerate what we shouldn't. And we react emotionally to things that will soon be forgotten. Remembering death interrupts these illusions. It also reminds us that power, wealth, reputation, and even memory are temporary. No matter how important things feel in the moment, they will pass.

This is not meant to discourage action, but to purify it. It forces us to act justly, to speak honestly, and to do what is right.

Properly understood, memento mori does not produce fear. It produces urgency without panic, seriousness without heaviness, and gratitude without attachment. It reminds us that each day is yet another complete life - an opportunity to practice virtue, restraint, courage, and reason.

You will die. So will everyone you know. The Stoic response is not despair, but attention.