At drinking parties of wealthy Egyptians, they always follow the end of their dinner by having a man carry around a corpse made of wood...

Homer “As leaves on trees, such is the life of man.” Diogenes. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers Books 6-10. Loeb...

The philosopher Pythagoras divides man’s life into four quarters thus: “Twenty years a boy, twenty years a youth, twenty years a young...

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show any human being, let...

"You are a little soul, carrying around a corpse"

In the first place, the highest and principal discipline, and one that stands at the very gates of the subject, is this: Whenever you grow attached to something, do not act as though it were one of those things that cannot be taken away, but as though it were something like a jar or a crystal goblet, so that when it breaks you will remember what it was like, and not be troubled. So too in life; if you kiss your child, your brother, your friend, never allow your fancy free rei

"What do you wish to be doing when it overtakes you? For no matter what you do you will have to be overtaken by death. If you have anything better to be doing when you are so overtaken, get to work on that."