A Modern Stoic (Part 2)

 Marcus Alden Meredith

October 9, 2024

A Modern Stoic (Part 2)

The Principle of Memento Mori

     Having introduced the 4 Stoic Virtues in a previous blog, it's time to continue the introduction and bring in more Stoic concepts. One of the most often discussed is given by the Latin phrase Memento Mori or “Remember Death.” Now while this may strike some as a bit of a downer or even an idea bordering on the morbid at first blush, let me assure you it is not. In fact, I’d put forth to you that it is life affirming. Let’s take a dive into this idea…

By saying “remember death” what Stoics are attempting to do is to remind you that life is unpredictable and to prepare to leave it at any instant. With Memento Mori in our mind, we are given the impetus to live life to the fullest but never to lose sight of how brief it could be. And since none of us knows when out time is done, we should not squander what time we have. We can’t get into a mindset where “I’ll wait until later.” or “There’s always tomorrow.” as our reasoning…. because there might not be a tomorrow. So, what you want to do, if you can do it now, then do it! Now, this does not mean to advocate a kind of reckless, Y.O.L.O!, throw care to the wind outlook on life. What we advocate as Stoics here with Memento Mori is a kind of awareness.

This awareness is one that should give you a kind of clarity in life, it’s up’s and down’s, its brevity, or it’s spacious span of time (if you are fortunate) and the fact that the Universe does what it does and we are merely along for the ride (however long that lasts). This awareness should also translate to how we learn and grow and become who we ultimately want to be. Consider the young writer who loves the word on the page, the putting of thought in to physical form with pen and ink. The young writer wants to make a living doing what he/she loves to do. But, as so often happens, you gotta make a living… so the young writer compromises: “I’ll wait until I can get some more money at a job, then I’ll find the time to write my novel.” But the time gets taken up by choices - more time at work means more money for more things. But once I have a nice place and a better position, I can do more writing. You can see where this line of thinking ultimately leads: You keep waiting for a time that never comes when you should have made the time. 

Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher and Emperor of Rome, made the time everyday (or at least most days) to journal. Here we have the most powerful man in the world at the time, squeezed on all sides for his attention while running an empire, and yet he was able to reflect on his day because time is the one thing that we can’t get back. So, with this awareness we can begin live our lives with a certain intensity of life, with intention and purpose. This purpose should not keep you from the enjoyment of life, just an awareness that allows for you to keep the ship of your mind “on course” and not susceptible to being blown of course in our lives by whim and social media.  I’m often reminded by this idea of Robin Williams character of the English teacher teaching poetry at an all boys school in The Dead Poet’s Society. He has two scenes that always struck me as very Stoic in nature. The first is when he marches the boys in the poetry class down to the trophy case in the main hall of the school. He has the boys look at the photos of past graduates of the school. As the boys lean in toward the trophy case to see the photos he states, “These boys now are all pushing up daisies.” He then asks them to remember idea: Carpe Diem - “Seize the day!” It is his way of reminding these young men of something they had no real-life comprehension of…. the brevity of life. Again from the Stoic point-of-view, know that your life is brief, so make the most of it.

The emperor Marcus Aurelius is often quoted as having said, “Live each day as if it were your last.” If you google this, you’ll possibly find a QUORA article where a Vietnam vet talks about this. He relates an incident saying, “I was speaking to a friend in Vietnam, he was killed in mid-sentence.” This is Memento Mori. Live… live to regret some things, but live… while you can. What happens after life? I don’t know because no one has ever come back to tell me what happens. But, being an atheist, I suspect it’s much like a switch being flipped off, then what you are returns to the Universe in it’s most basic components to be renewed and turned into a new manifestation of “creation.” But never assume you have time. 

Tempus Fugit - “Time Flies”

Carpe Diem! - “Seize the Day!”

because Memento Mori - you must remember death.. it comes for us all.