Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: He that feareth death, either feareth…
He that feareth death, either feareth that he shall have no sense at all, or that his senses will not be the same. Whereas, he should rather comfort himself, that either no sense at all, and so no sense of evil; or if any sense, then another life, and so no death properly.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Fear of death is often fear of a picture we have painted: darkness, separation, unfinished plans, the loss of everything familiar. Marcus challenges the picture. If death is unconsciousness, there is no suffering left to experience. If it is some form of continued existence, then it is a transition rather than annihilation. We do not have to share his metaphysics to use the point. Death is not made easier by rehearsing terror about what we cannot know. What we do know is that fear can steal the life still available to us. It can keep us from loving, beginning, traveling, speaking honestly, or sitting with someone who is dying. Today, let mortality make you more awake, not more panicked. You do not need certainty about the end in order to use this day with courage and gratitude.
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