Old French "Memento Mori" - You will all dance the ballet of which I sing

Sometimes, we all need to practice a bit of “Memento Mori”— the ancient practice of reflection on mortality that traces back to Socrates, who said that the proper practice of philosophy is “about nothing else but dying and being dead.”

According to the Stoics, there is only one perennial truth – that regardless of your wealth, success, religion, philosophy, nationality, sex — it doesn’t matter. You will die, eventually. From the beginning of time, death is one universal commonality. Everyone dies or is already dead. So live while you can.

Below is an anonymous piece of art made by an unknown artist, most likely from the 17th century. It now hangs this inside Blanton Art Museum at the University of Texas at Austin.

It reads:

“Ma flesche (asseure toy) n’espargnera personne
Vous danserez trestout ce balet, que je sonne.”

Which translates to:

My arrow (I promise you) spares no one
You will all dance the ballet of which I sing.”

We all die, but let’s remember what Seneca has urged us in his Moral Letters to Lucillus,:

Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day…The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.”