Six skeletons smoking around the dinner table is a black and white photograph from around 1865. The photographer is unknown.
“…Waitin’ for an invitation to arrive
Goin’ to a party where no one’s still alive..”
***A memento mori is a reminder of death. It is a key practice in Stoicism but is not unique to it. It can be a simple visual reminder or quote or a more serious mediation on death. Stoics use it to remind themselves of how short and fragile life is and therefore how much we have to be grateful for, to live virtuous lives, and not to waste our time.
In this series, each Monday, I will post a memento mori from various sources, either from the primary Stoic texts themselves or other sources. You can read my other Memento Mori entires here.