A Brief Existence

"But a brief existence is common to all things, and yet you avoid and pursue all things as if they would be eternal. A little time, and you will close your eyes; and him who has attended you to your grave another soon will lament." -Marcus Aurelius

Death is a difficult topic for most people in the Western world.  We don't want to admit that we are mortal, that we could die at any time.  We don't think it is fair when a child dies, or a young adult.  We are not ready to lose the ones we love, even if they have lived to be 100 years old. 

The Stoics talked a lot about death.  It was something that Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor, talked to himself about a great deal in his Meditations.  He admonished himself many times to consider that there were many "important" people who have passed through history, and yet where were they now?  All dead.  And those those mourn you at your grave, will soon be mourned by others, as the quote above tells us.

It is important to acknowledge that we all have an expiration date, and that none of us know when that date is coming.  Again, Stoics do not say that you should be anxious about your future death, but understand and accept that it could come at any time, to you or anyone else.  Taking away the fear of death leads you to live a happier life.

"How many a Chrysippus, how many a Socrates, how many an Epictetus has time already swallowed up? And let the same thought occur to you with reference to every man and thing." -Marcus Aurelius