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StillnessQuote

You will be forgotten either way. So live in such a way that, while you are here, you belong to yourself.

Anonymous

Literature

The story behind the card

No author has been found for this line; it circulates online. Its first half echoes the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, who reminded himself in his private notebook, the Meditations (AD 170s), that he would soon forget everything and everything would soon forget him. The second half recalls the Roman writer Seneca, whose first letter to his friend Lucilius opens “Vindica te tibi”, roughly “claim yourself for yourself”: stop letting others take your time. Both belong to the tradition later called memento mori, “remember that you will die”.

Türkçe oku
Nasılsa unutulacaksın. O hâlde buradayken kendine ait bir hayat yaşa.
Anonim

Bu sözün yazarı bilinmiyor; internette modern bir özdeyiş olarak dolaşıyor. İlk yarısı Roma imparatoru Marcus Aurelius'u hatırlatır: MS 170'lerde kendisi için tuttuğu notlarda, yani Kendime Düşünceler'de, yakında her şeyi unutacağını, her şeyin de yakında onu unutacağını yazar. İkinci yarısı ise Romalı yazar Seneca'nın dostu Lucilius'a yazdığı ilk mektubu akla getirir. Mektup “Vindica te tibi” diye başlar; kabaca “kendini kendine geri al” demektir, yani vaktini başkalarına kaptırma. İkisi de sonradan memento mori, yani “öleceğini unutma” diye özetlenen geleneğin parçasıdır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Memento mori
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