Memento mori

     Have you heard about the word, memento mori? It’s quite familiar to most of you. It came from the Latin word meaning ‘remember the death.’ There is a story for this saying: in ancient Rome, there a Roman general parading through the streets during a victory triumph and behind him was his slave. The slave warned him although the general is at his peak today, tomorrow he could fall.

 

 "Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento! Memento mori!":

"Look behind you! Remember that you are a man! Remember that you'll die!"

     It kind of connects with Carpe Diem, it points out that humans have limited life so that we need to seize the day. In Korea, there is a similar saying: ‘Today is the day that somebody (who died yesterday) desired.’ You cannot guarantee anybody’s life or even yours. So we must be gratitude for still living. Moreover, I want to add another meaning of ‘memento mori’: Remember the death of those who sacrificed for us and for the nation. We should always be grateful for our lives because if it wasn’t them, we wouldn’t be living now.

     In Korea, they celebrate the Memorial Day on June 25^th. On that day, they put their national flags outside the window and go to the National Memorial Board and pay a silent tribute. We must never forget them and it is our turn to secure the young adults from sacrificing in wars. We should do something to bring peace to the world and repay for their blood.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori