September 03, 2026

Ready For The Summons

I come, I come, why dost thou call me?

Zeno of Citium founded Stoicism in Athens, teaching for decades beneath the painted colonnade known as the Stoa Poikile. Diogenes Laertius records that in old age, as Zeno was leaving his school, he stumbled and broke a toe; striking the ground with his hand, he quoted this line from the tragedy Niobe and then, by his own choice, held his breath until he died. The words show a man treating a small accident as a summons and answering it without complaint or delay. Stoics understood memento mori this way: death can arrive through anything, even a broken toe, so the wise person keeps no unfinished business with the present moment. Remembering this daily is meant to strip away vanity and trivial worry, returning full attention and gratitude to the hours actually in hand.

A principle of Stoicism: Memento Mori →