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Learning To Live And Die
Philosophy is nothing more than the practice of noble behavior
Caleb Ontiveros
March 03, 2025
Welcome to The Stoa Letter, the newsletter on Stoic theory and practice.
🏛️ Theory
There is a line: to philosophize is to learn to die.
Before the effects of aging and injury cloud the mind – while you can – see mortality clearly. It is tragic but natural. Unavoidable and ordinary. A fact of life that is a force for urgency and gratitude.
The Stoics called themselves to come to terms with the reality of their own death. We are mortal creatures. This much is obvious, but how many of us have truly internalized this?
Even if you believe in a life after this one, our earthly lives and the lives of the ones we love come to an end.
Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardships of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die.
For the Stoics, death is not an evil. It is a necessary thing that may be good or bad. One which we can face with excellence. What matters is how we live and die.
By internalizing the fact that we will die, memento mori, the Stoic seeks to live freely. They are not constrained by the fear of death. Nor are they prideful or complacent. That fact that we’re mortal engenders urgency and gratitude now. Urgency, because this is all we have. Gratitude for the simple reason we have a life at all. Both of these attitudes inspire presence: the ability to see things as they are at the moment and act well.
Death hangs over you: while you live, while you can, be good.
To philosophize is to learn to die because we are mortal creatures. The question of philosophy is: how should we live and die?
🎯 Action
Pause and remind yourself of your mortality. Let go of the trivial and acknowledge what matters.
🔗 Links
💀 The wise see death as it is. Here we have a line from Marcus Aurelius where he quotes the great philosopher, Plato:
From Plato: the man who has an elevated mind and takes a view of all time and of all substance, dost thou suppose it possible for him to think that human life is anything great? It is not possible, he said. Such a man then will think that death also is no evil.
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🚢 Ibn al-Jawzi says:
The ship of your lifetime is approaching the coast of the graveyard. What is the matter with you that you are busy inside the ship trying to acquire goods?
🎧️ Listen to Michael and I discuss the practice of Memento Mori in detail on the Stoa Conversations podcast. We talk about summarizing the benefits and risks of Memento Mori exercises so that you can translate Stoic philosophy into real practice.
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