It Comes For All, Young And Old

The New York Times Obituary section this past weekend featured a somberly diverse list of losses: William Jordan, the impressionist, was dead at 91. Erich Lessing, a photographer died at 95. Amanda Kyle Williams, the crime writer, at 61. Randy Weston, the Jazz pianist, at 92. Mac Miller, the rapper at 26. Not included, of course, are the thousands of less famous people around the world, who died at ages young and old, of causes expected and unexpected. Some had lived full lives, others were cut tragically short. Mac Miller, whose promising music career ended prematurely, is a reminder of that to all of us. Just X weeks ago, he shot his final music video which included a scene of him carving the words memento mori in a coffin. Talk about art getting real. Death comes for all of us. Indeed, some of us are either in so much pain, or take our existence so for granted--or likely a mix of both--that we actually invite death in early. Others live much longer, but it’s never a given that longevity is superior (there are plenty of people whose age creeps up until the triple digits with little to show for it). Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself that the thought of our mortality should determine what we do and say and think. Meaning: Don’t waste time. Take care of yourself. Make the most of your talents while you’re here. Be prepared for the end. Life is a gift that can be revoked at any moment, we need to remember that. We need to remember that it’s a gift, period, and shouldn’t be treated with respect and appreciation. Memento mori. This is not just a fun phrase to throw around. It’s deadly serious. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com.

• 0:30Ryan Holiday?

  It comes for all, young and old. The New York Times Obituary section this past weekend featured a somberly diverse list of losses. William Jordan, the Impressionist, was dead at 91. Eric Lessing, a photographer, died at 95. Amanda Kyle Williams, the crime writer, at 61. Randy Weston, the jazz pianist, at 92. Mac Miller, the rapper, at 26. Not included, of course, are the thousands of less famous people around the world who died at ages young and old of causes expected and unexpected. Some had lived full lives, others were tragically cut short. Mac Miller, whose promising music career ended prematurely,

• 1:14Ryan Holiday?

  is a reminder of that to all of us. Just a few weeks ago, he shot his final music video, which included a scene of him carving the words "Memento Mori" in a coffin. Talk about art. That's art getting real. Death comes for all of us. Indeed, some of us are either in so much pain, or take our existence so for granted, or likely a mix of both, that we actually invite death in early. Others live much longer, but it's never a given that longevity is superior. There are plenty of people whose age creeps up into the triple digits with little to show for it. Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself that "the thought of our mortality should determine what we do and say and think," meaning, "don't waste

• 1:58Ryan Holiday?

  time, take care of yourself, make the most of your talents while you're here." Be prepared for the end. Life is a gift that can be revoked at any moment. We need to remember that. We need to remember that it's a gift, period, and should be treated with respect and appreciation. Memento Mori. This is not just a fun phrase to throw around. It's deadly serious. It's for this very reason that I carry a medallion in my pocket that has an engraving of a skull, has a flower, it has an hourglass, and it has those same words that Mac Miller inscribed in the roof of that coffin. It says, "Memento Mori." And then in the back, it has Marcus Aurelius's words,

• 2:42Ryan Holiday?

  "You could leave life right now." The idea being that we have to remember that and we have to live our lives according to it. If you want to have your own version of this, we even have it in a necklace. You can go to dailystoic.com/mementomori.