Theme
Mortality
102 passages
- Epictetus If you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be…
- Epictetus Keep death, exile, and every feared thing before you daily; then you will avoid base thoughts and excessive desire.
- Epictetus Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible be daily before your eyes, but chiefly death, and you…
- Epictetus Never say of anything, "I have lost it"; but, "I have returned it." Is your child dead? It is returned. Is your wife…
- Epictetus The greatest evil is not death but fearing it. Train against that fear in thought, practice, and study; this is the…
- Epictetus When loss stings, remember that what you love is fragile and lent, not a possession. Hold child, sibling, and friend…
- Marcus Aurelius Again, consider now the times of Trajan. There likewise thou seest the very self-same things, and that age also is now…
- Marcus Aurelius Alexander and the keeper of his mule came to the same end: absorbed into nature’s reason or dispersed among its atoms.
- Marcus Aurelius Alexander of Macedon, and he that dressed his mules, when once dead both came to one. For either they were both…
- Marcus Aurelius All that I consist of, is either form or matter. No corruption can reduce either of these unto nothing: for neither…
- Marcus Aurelius All things that thou seest, will soon be perished, and they that see their corruptions, will soon vanish away…
- Marcus Aurelius And that as often as thou shalt behold them, thou shalt still see the same: as the same things, so the same shortness…
- Marcus Aurelius And this I say of them, who once shined as the wonders of their ages, for as for the rest, no sooner are they expired,…
- Marcus Aurelius As a part hitherto thou hast had a particular subsistence: and now shalt thou vanish away into the common substance of…
- Marcus Aurelius As a pig that cries and flings when his throat is cut, fancy to thyself every one to be, that grieves for any worldly…
- Marcus Aurelius As generation is, so also death, a secret of nature's wisdom: a mixture of elements, resolved into the same elements…
- Marcus Aurelius 'As often as a father kisseth his child, he should say secretly with himself' (said Epictetus,) 'tomorrow perchance…
- Marcus Aurelius Be not deceived; for thou shalt never live to read thy moral commentaries, nor the acts of the famous Romans and…
- Marcus Aurelius But whatsoever it is that thou art about, remember to call upon the Gods. And as for the time how long thou shalt live…
- Marcus Aurelius Children's anger, mere babels; wretched souls bearing up dead bodies, that they may not have their fall so soon: even…
- Marcus Aurelius Consider earlier ages: people married, raised children, fell sick, died, traded, schemed, loved, sought office, and…
- Marcus Aurelius Consider now the death of a whole kindred and family, as of that of the Pompeys, as that also that useth to be written…
- Marcus Aurelius Cross this short span of life in accord with nature, then arrive at your final rest with grace, as a ripe olive falls,…
- Marcus Aurelius Death is a cessation from the impression of the senses, the tyranny of the passions, the errors of the mind, and the…
- Marcus Aurelius Do not live as if you had endless years ahead. Death stands near; while you are able, become good.
- Marcus Aurelius Dost thou grieve that thou dost weigh but so many pounds, and not three hundred rather? Just as much reason hast thou…
- Marcus Aurelius Either thou dost Continue in this kind of life and that is it, which so long thou hast been used unto and therefore…
- Marcus Aurelius Even as if any of the gods should tell thee, Thou shalt certainly die to-morrow, or next day, thou wouldst not, except…
- Marcus Aurelius Even if you lived for ages beyond counting, you lose only the life now being lived. The present is equal for all, and…
- Marcus Aurelius First; let it not trouble thee. For all things both good and evil: come to pass according to the nature and general…
- Marcus Aurelius For a day only endure both the one who remembers and the one remembered.
- Marcus Aurelius He that feareth death, either feareth that he shall have no sense at all, or that his senses will not be the same.…
- Marcus Aurelius How base and putrid, every common matter is! Water, dust, and from the mixture of these bones, and all that loathsome…
- Marcus Aurelius How many of them who came into the world at the same time when I did, are already gone out of it?
- Marcus Aurelius If so be that the souls remain after death (say they that will not believe it); how is the air from all eternity able…
- Marcus Aurelius If the first, why should I desire to continue any longer in this fortuit confusion and commixtion? or why should I…
- Marcus Aurelius It is all one to see these things for a hundred of years together or but for three years.
- Marcus Aurelius It is the part of a man endowed with a good understanding faculty, to consider what they themselves are in very deed,…
- Marcus Aurelius It will suffice to remember, that all things in general are by certain order and appointment: or if it be but few. And…
- Marcus Aurelius Let death surprise me when it will, and where it will, I may be εὔμοιρος, or a happy man, nevertheless. For he is a…
- Marcus Aurelius Let every deed, word, and intention be worthy of someone near life’s end.
- Marcus Aurelius Let it be thy perpetual meditation, how many physicians who once looked so grim, and so theatrically shrunk their…
- Marcus Aurelius Let the several deaths of men of all sorts, and of all sorts of professions, and of all sort of nations, be a…
- Marcus Aurelius Let thy thoughts ever run upon them, who once for some one thing or other, were moved with extraordinary indignation;…
- Marcus Aurelius Nature hath its end as well in the end and final consummation of anything that is, as in the begin-nine and…
- Marcus Aurelius Not as though thou hadst thousands of years to live. Death hangs over thee: whilst yet thou livest, whilst thou…
- Marcus Aurelius O man! as a citizen thou hast lived, and conversed in this great city the world. Whether just for so many years, or…
- Marcus Aurelius Of all my thoughts and cares, one only thing shall be the object, that I myself do nothing which to the proper…
- Marcus Aurelius Of others, even that which was fabulous, is now long since forgotten. This thereafter thou must remember, that…
- Marcus Aurelius Out of Plato. 'He then whose mind is endowed with true magnanimity, who hath accustomed himself to the contemplation…
- Marcus Aurelius Reflect often on how swiftly all things are carried past us: existence flows like a river, actions keep changing,…
- Marcus Aurelius Remembering moreover, that this care and circumspection of thine, is to continue but for a while, and then thy life…
- Marcus Aurelius Soon you will die, yet you remain insincere, unsettled, and suspicious of externals; you are not gracious, though…
- Marcus Aurelius Such and such things, from such and such causes, must of necessity proceed. He that would not have such things to…
- Marcus Aurelius That then which is longest of duration, and that which is shortest, come both to one effect. For although in regard of…
- Marcus Aurelius The Chaldeans and Astrologians having foretold the deaths of divers, were afterwards themselves surprised by the…
- Marcus Aurelius The life of such an one, death can never surprise as imperfect; as of an actor, that should die before he had ended,…
- Marcus Aurelius The nature of the universe, of the common substance of all things as it were of so much wax hath now perchance formed…
- Marcus Aurelius The time of a man's life is as a point; the substance of it ever flowing, the sense obscure; and the whole composition…
- Marcus Aurelius Then hath a man attained to the estate of perfection in his life and conversation, when he so spends every day, as if…
- Marcus Aurelius This time that is now present, bestow thou upon thyself. They that rather hunt for fame after death, do not consider,…
- Marcus Aurelius Thou art now ready to die, and yet hast thou not attained to that perfect simplicity: thou art yet subject to many…
- Marcus Aurelius Thou must comfort thyself in the expectation of thy natural dissolution, and in the meantime not grieve at the delay;…
- Marcus Aurelius Thou must hasten therefore; not only because thou art every day nearer unto death than other, but also because that…
- Marcus Aurelius Thou must not in matter of death carry thyself scornfully, but as one that is well pleased with it, as being one of…
- Marcus Aurelius Turn it over and inspect it: see what it becomes with age, sickness, or disgrace. Brief are praise and fame, memory…
- Marcus Aurelius Upon every action that thou art about, put this question to thyself; How will this when it is done agree with me?…
- Marcus Aurelius Walk through the succession of past kingdoms; look ahead and you will see the same pattern. Whether forty years or an…
- Marcus Aurelius We are incense grains cast upon one altar: one falls sooner, another later; the difference is nothing.
- Marcus Aurelius Whatsoever dieth and falleth, however and wheresoever it die and fall, it cannot fall out of the world, here it have…
- Marcus Aurelius Whatsoever is material, doth soon vanish away into the common substance of the whole; and whatsoever is formal, or,…
- Marcus Aurelius Whatsoever it is that thou goest about, consider of it by thyself, and ask thyself, What? because I shall do this no…
- Marcus Aurelius Why then shouldest thou so earnestly either seek after these things, or fly from them, as though they should endure…
- Marcus Aurelius 'With meats and drinks and divers charms, they seek to divert the channel, that they might not die. Yet must we needs…
- Marcus Aurelius Within a while the earth shall cover us all, and then she herself shall have her change. And then the course will be,…
- Marcus Aurelius You do not resent having a given weight rather than twice it; why resent receiving a given span of life rather than…
- Seneca A very small amount of it, therefore, is abundantly sufficient, and so, when his last day arrives, the wise man will…
- Seneca Death is a release from and an end of all pains: beyond it our sufferings cannot extend: it restores us to the…
- Seneca Do I speak of our lives, which we know roll away incredibly fast? Reckon up the centuries of cities: you will find…
- Seneca Fire will burn all people equally, male and female, of every rank and every age: steel will exhibit its cutting power…
- Seneca Fortune strikes hardest when it catches us unprepared; the person who expects change bears it more easily.
- Seneca How many funerals pass our houses? yet we do not think of death. How many untimely deaths? we think only of our son’s…
- Seneca How many people have consumed your life while you failed to notice the loss? How much went to empty sorrow, foolish…
- Seneca It appears as though this plague moved in a regular orbit, and spread ruin and desolation among us all without…
- Seneca Let us add, if you please, to these grounds of complaint the disposition of the youth himself, cut off in the midst of…
- Seneca Nature gave him to you, as she gives others to other brothers, not as an absolute property, but as a loan: afterwards…
- Seneca Prepare your mind as though life were complete. Delay nothing; settle each day’s account. Whoever finishes each day…
- Seneca Set aside distractions and give yourself fully to this purpose before time's swift course leaves you behind. Welcome…
- Seneca Show that a life is measured not by its years but by its use; it is common for someone to live long and yet live very…
- Seneca The Emperor Augustus lost his darling sister Octavia, and though Nature destined him for heaven, yet she did not relax…
- Seneca The seven wonders of the world, and any even greater wonders which the ambition of later ages has constructed, will be…
- Seneca Think of your son’s handsome person, which you had guarded in perfect purity among all the temptations of a voluptuous…
- Seneca Whatever gift Fortune bestows upon a man, let him think while he enjoys it, that it will prove as fickle as the…
- Seneca Whatever has arrived at perfection, is ripe for dissolution. Consummate virtue flees away and betakes itself out of…
- Seneca When Fortune has unjustly divided the common stock, and has given over one man to another, though they were born with…
- Seneca You are mistaken! your brother has not lost the light of day, but has obtained a more enduring light: whither he has…
- Seneca You fear dying—but what is this life of yours if it is not already a kind of death?
- Seneca You have no grounds for excusing yourself on the ground of being a woman, who has a sort of right to weep without…
- Seneca You have no grounds, therefore, for supposing that any one has lived long, because he has wrinkles or grey hairs: such…
- Seneca You lost your most affectionate uncle, a brave and excellent man, just when you were awaiting his return: and, lest…
- Seneca You need not, therefore, hasten to the burial-place of your son: that which lies there is but the worst part of him…
- Seneca You say, “I am deprived of the embraces of my darling son, I cannot enjoy the pleasure of seeing him and of hearing…