Those who do not understand Stoicism often denounce it as a philosophy that is overly concerned with death, which makes them dismiss it as a way of thinking incompatible with the happy-go-lucky types they identify themselves with. While pondering the end of life does hold an important place in the practice of a Stoic, there is nothing gruesome about it; quite the contrary. Keep reading to find out why Memento Mori is one of the most life-affirming philosophical exercises you could pick up and why acknowledging your mortality is crucial to living a meaningful life in the moment. 

What does Memento Mori mean for a Stoic?

The concept of Memento Mori has made the rounds through various philosophical schools of thought from Stoicism to Christianity and even Buddhism, but the adage itself comes from Latin, and can be translated as “Remember that you will die”. Its origins can be traced back to Roman triumphs, when the victorious general returning from a military campaign would be reminded that despite his glory, he is not eternal.

Nothing keeps your ego in check quite like a slave whispering “Mind your shelf life” into your ear as you proudly attend a celebration dedicated to your military career, amirite? Those Romans, they were just built differently. 😉

So is Memento Mori a philosophy? 

Not in and of itself. But if you are looking to build a personal belief system and you only have space for a single Stoic teaching (and you decide to adopt this one!), you have my blessing to call it a philosophy. Since death defines the human condition - and is thus central to any philosophical system that attempts to organize said condition - choosing how to approach it as a first principle can inform all your other views. In other words, if you make an outright decision about how to approach your mortality, you have everything you need to define what living a good life means.

What is the purpose of Memento Mori?

You can think of Memento Mori as the Stoic lifehack to beat existential procrastination. (I’m calling it existential, since it doesn’t necessarily apply to the task at hand, but rather to your life’s task in a broader sense.) In the words of Ryan Holiday - “Death doesn’t make life pointless, but rather purposeful.” Without an endpoint, existence would be just a deluge of disparate events that never paint a bigger picture.

So how exactly does it help you to think about your expiry?

• Having a deadline for your life project forces you to be laser focused on achieving your goals, otherwise the work expands to fill up the time allocated to it (as described by Parkinson’s law, in this case - indefinitely)
• It gives you perspective: the bigger picture of your life’s story might only be obvious in retrospect. It is only after the story ends that an external observer can understand how the puzzle pieces of your existence fit together to define your legacy. In the words of Seneca: “What you have done in the past will be manifest only at the time when you draw your last breath.”

Have you ever noticed how people who have had a brush with death are suddenly full of life & optimism and suddenly start to make the most of every moment by doing all the things they’d always planned to do? The point of ‘memento mori’ is to cultivate the same attitude without being in real danger. 

If you still think it’s too creepy to ponder your own death, just remember that unpleasant things don’t disappear just because we refuse to think about them. On the contrary, if we fail to mentally prepare for the distressing aspects of existence, they will come back with a vengeance, and they will strike when we are unprepared, thus causing more damage than they otherwise would. To ease into the thought, consider this:

The fear of death is not actually a fear of the event itself, but rather the dread of not having lived. 

Read that again and think about it: if you were to leave the planet right now, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? I’m willing to bet it’s some kind of regret, rather than the horror of being in physical pain. Practicing Memento Mori keeps that potential regret front and center, which means you’re more likely to work on avoiding it.

Memento Mori and its converse - Memento Vivere - are both trying to teach you the same thing.

To quote William B. Irvine - “when Stoics contemplate their own death, it is not because they long for death but because they want to get the most out of life.” This is why remembering that we must die comes with the converse reminder that we must also live. This is why…

The perfect application of Memento Mori is to live your life with intention. 

Some Stoic authors will tell you to carve out time to sit still and imagine that your life is about to end. This kind of ‘intervention’ is useful at times, so by all means - try it! - but let’s be real: you won’t do this repeatedly, and if you’re just starting out with Stoicism, it might bring you more anxiety than it cures. The good news is that you don’t need to take such drastic measures in order to practice contemplating your mortality. The only thing that’s asked of you in order to honor the existence of your shelf life is to live with intention. Ideally, you’d have a set of goals (and a moral code to go along with them), and you’d spend every minute accomplishing them. 

But life is rarely ideal, so to better understand how to work with it when it doesn’t meet expectations, consider the ‘failure condition’. (This is the situation in which you have lived life completely without intention; it’s impossible to find yourself in this state of affairs if you make the slightest effort, but bear with me.)

This is the reality that most people choose to live with: they simply react to what happens to them, without any purpose or sense of agency. Whenever you can fight the urge to remain adrift and return to your desired path, you’re winning. And you’re doing more than most of your peers will ever manage. And even if you are faced with obstacles, they might actually contribute to who you’re meant to become. (You can read more about embracing your destiny here.)

Every (modern) Stoic needs a bucket list.

The Stoics may not have come up with it, but a bucket list is a perfect application of Memento Mori. 

The idea is simple: you start compiling a list of all the things you want to do at least once in your life. Most people usually manage to get this far (even if they might keep it as a mental list, rather than a written one), but they stop there. A bucket list isn’t worth much without a plan to actually work your way through it. 

A better way to approach it would be to set up a “rule” for how you’re going to check things off. For example, you could decide that you will find a way to incorporate one item in every vacation. Imagine how much more meaningful that holiday would become, and what unique memories would spring from it. And it’s well within your reach to do it! So go for it!

Quotes about Memento Mori & How to Interpret Them

In closing, I’ve selected a few Stoic quotes on the topic to illustrate how the OGs viewed their mortality.

The first one is from Epictetus, whose serene approach to the end of life might strike you as odd: 

“I must die, mustn’t I? If at once, then I am dying: if soon, I dine now, as it is time for dinner, and afterwards when the time comes I will die.” – Epictetus

His point is that even though death may be inevitable, one must not fret about it, but rather concern oneself with the tasks of the moment.

For Marcus Aurelius, death is simply a reminder to live a virtuous life: 

“Don’t behave as if you are destined to live forever. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” – Marcus Aurelius

He further emphasizes its utility as a moral compass by saying:

“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” – Marcus Aurelius

Just when you thought that us moderns invented procrastination, this quote from Seneca shows that putting things off is as old as time, and advises us against it:

“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. 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.” – Seneca

So if you remember one thing from this post, let it be this: death is not within our control, but how we think about it is. May you manage to make the best of each day!

This post is part of a series about Stoic concepts. If you want to learn more about the main tenets of the philosophy, you might want to read the one about Amor Fati or Premeditatio Malorum next. If you're looking for a Stoic exercise to start practicing right away, check out The View from Above.