Memento Mori

by AdamStanislav - uploaded on March 24, 2021, 7:32 pm

Memento Mori, yet another simple and to the point Latin phrase that requires a bunch of words to express in English (literal translation would be Remember to Die, which is not what the idiom means).

My own personal translation would be Keep in mind you are going to die. The point is that of non-attachment, essentially Buddhism for the Western mind. Though this specific Latin idiom has been used mostly by Christian mystics. Legend has it the Trappist monks must never speak except for saying Memento Mori instead of Hello when passing each other. They have allegedly developed a special sign language so they can communicate without speaking. To me that defeats the purpose, but to each his own.

Oh, and a devout Catholic man once seriously claimed to me that God has written the letter M on the palms of both of our hands, so we can see MM and read it as Memento Mori.