Delphic Maxim #11

Maxim #11 – Think as a Mortal – Be Prudent as One Who Can Die

If you saw the 2004 movie Troy, you may remember Achilles saying to Briseus:

I'll tell you a secret. Something they don't teach you in your temple. The Gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.

The Romans has a similar maxim:

Memento Mori – Remember you must die.

To think of our mortality is not to despair at the shortness or the fragility of life. Rather it is a reminder to stop procrastinating and instead to forge ahead toward our dreams with full gusto, energy, and commitment. It is a prompt to appreciate all the people that we love, all the blessings in our lives, and all that we have accomplished.

To me, it also demands that I give it my all, so there are few regrets at the end of my life.

What does it say to you?

The 147 Delphic Maxims [as cited by Stobaeus] are ancient guidelines and advice for living a proper and happy life. They are enduring and eternal in many aspects, although one must consider the times in which they were written and adapt the language accordingly.  

They remain an important legacy of human history and continue to provide wisdom for the ages. The maxims live because they have been preserved, reiterated, and reinterpreted throughout the oral and written traditions of the Hellenic world – not as absolutes, but as living guidance.

Stobaeus was a Greek writer from about 500 A.D. Clearly a well-read scholar in his day, he managed to safeguard much of the prose and poetry of ancient Greece. To him we owe a great debt.

Download all the Delphic Maxims in a colorful PDF – click here.