Something like 117 billion human beings have ever lived. It’s a little dark but indisputably true that the vast majority of them are now dead…and the people alive today will one day join them. And what of all the animals that preceded them by millions of years? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh…

In Larry McMurty’s epic novel Lonesome Dove (grab at The Painted Porch), Augustus McRae stares out of the wide expanse of the Texas plains and ponders what has come and gone and been buried eon after eon. “Why, think of all the buffalo that have died on these plains,” he says. “Buffalo and other critters too. And the Indians have been here forever; their bones are down there in the earth. I'm told that over in the Old Country you can't dig six feet without uncovering skulls and leg bones and such. People have been living there since the beginning, and their bones have kinda filled up the ground. It's interesting to think about, all the bones in the ground.”

In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius makes a similar series of observations. He thinks of all the emperors that have come before him, listing not just their names but the names of the luminaries and power brokers who filled their courts. Where are they now, he asks? What’s left of them? In another passage, he points out that the same thing happened to both Alexander the Great and his mule-driver and now they’re buried in the same ground. This is life. This is what history and the passage of time does and always will.

People probably thought Marcus Aurelius was a bit of a downer. McRae’s observation is undoubtedly macabre. But there is also something beautiful, even reassuring about it. “The earth is mostly just a boneyard,” he says, completing his rumination. “But pretty in sunlight.”

Life is tragic. The human condition is fatal. The earth is insatiable. But it’s still pretty in sunlight, isn’t it?

The Stoics and future generations kept the idea of Memento Mori close by with jewelry, writing, art, and music because death doesn’t make life pointless—it makes life purposeful. They were trying to remember: We can go at any moment. We must not waste time. And that’s why we decided to add to the rich history of Memento Mori with our Memento Mori medallion, signet ring, and pendant—each reminders we must live NOW, while there is still time. Explore the Memento Mori collection over at the Daily Stoic Store!

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