Memento Mori: Meaning and How to Practise It

Memento mori sounds morbid. In practice it is one of the most clarifying ideas in Stoic philosophy: a short, regular reminder that your time is limited, used not to frighten you but to sort what matters from what does not. Here is what the phrase means, what the Stoics actually wrote, what psychology suggests, and how to practise it without tipping into gloom.

What does memento mori mean?

Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning "remember you must die", as Tate's art glossary puts it. It also names a type of artwork designed to remind viewers of the shortness and fragility of life, often a portrait with a skull, an hourglass, a guttering candle or wilting flowers. The closely related vanitas still life adds symbols of worldly pleasures to make the same point.

The phrase is most associated with later European art, but the practice of reflecting on mortality is much older and runs right through Stoic writing.

What did the Stoics say about remembering death?

All three major Roman Stoics returned to the theme:

• Epictetus, in section 21 of the Enchiridion, advises keeping death and other things that appear terrible daily before your eyes, death above all, and says you will then never entertain an abject thought or covet anything too eagerly.
• Seneca, in Letter 1 of his Moral Letters, asks who truly values their time and understands that they are "dying daily", noting that the years behind us are already in death's hands. In Letter 12 he says every day should be regulated as if it closed the series and completed our existence. Letter 101, on the futility of planning ahead, makes the same case through the story of a man who died suddenly mid-plans.
• Marcus Aurelius, in his Meditations, repeatedly tells himself to act as though he might leave life at any moment and to do each task as if it were his last (Book 2, sections 5 and 11 in most modern editions).

The point in each case is practical. Remembering death was meant to strip away trivial worries, reduce greed and fear, and push the reader to act well now rather than someday. It fits the wider Stoic view, summarised in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, that external things are not what make a life good.

Is memento mori depressing or helpful?

It depends on how it is done. Psychology research distinguishes between brief, abstract reminders of death and deeper, personal reflection on it. In a set of three studies, Cozzolino and colleagues (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2004) found that a brief mortality reminder made highly materialistic participants greedier, while a fuller "death reflection" exercise, modelled on reports from people who had nearly died, led the same kind of participants to behave less selfishly. That is a small set of lab studies, not proof of a life-changing effect, but it matches the Stoic intuition: thoughtful reflection on mortality tends to clarify values, while a fleeting scare does not.

If reflecting on death brings up grief or anxiety rather than clarity, stop. That is not a failure of the practice, and anyone struggling with grief, anxiety or thoughts of death should talk to a GP, psychologist or a support line such as Lifeline (13 11 14 in Australia).

What are practical ways to practise memento mori?

How do you start a memento mori practice, step by step?

1. Choose a fixed cue. First coffee, the commute, or just before bed. Tie the reflection to something that already happens daily.
2. Use one plain sentence. For example, "I will not live forever; what deserves my attention today?" Keep it calm and specific.
3. Name one thing to act on. A call to make, a task to finish, a conversation to have, a habit to protect.
4. Name one thing to let go. A grudge, a minor irritation, a worry outside your control.
5. Do it briefly. One to three minutes. The aim is clarity, not dwelling.
6. Review weekly. Once a week, ask whether your time went where you said it mattered.

What is the "life in weeks" exercise?

Draw a grid where each square is one week of a long life, and shade the weeks already lived. The arithmetic is sobering. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, life expectancy at birth in Australia was 81.1 years for males and 85.1 years for females in 2022 to 2024. That is roughly 4,200 to 4,400 weeks in total. Life expectancy is an average, not a promise, which is the point Seneca makes in Letter 101.

The grid is not meant to induce panic. It makes a familiar fact visible: the time for the things you keep postponing is limited, and it is spent one ordinary week at a time.

How does memento mori change daily decisions?

It is a filter. Reflection on mortality tends to make three things clearer:

• What is worth your attention. Arguments online and status competitions look small next to finite time. Our guide to deep work focus blocks is the practical side of spending attention deliberately.
• What can wait and what cannot. Relationships, health and the work you care about rarely announce a deadline. Memento mori supplies one.
• How to handle setbacks. A bad day, a losing trade or a rejected pitch shrinks when set against the bigger picture, a theme we explore in Stoicism in trading.

How is memento mori different from premeditatio malorum?

Both are Stoic reflections on what could be lost. Premeditatio malorum rehearses specific setbacks, such as a failed project or an injury, to plan a response. Memento mori focuses on the one certainty, that life ends, to reset priorities. One prepares you for events; the other reminds you what the events are for. Both make most sense inside the broader philosophy explained in our beginner's guide to Stoicism.