"Memento Mori" is a literary topic used specially in the Renaissance and Baroque. The translation of these words are "Remember that you will die". This sentence and its meaning for me are very important, and I reflected a lot about it.
My question is the following: What is life? What is your attitude towards life? Do you have an inexorability feeling? (in the philosophical way)

In my opinion, I think that life is a drama, we are choking continuosly but in some moments we can reach the top of the water and break our slavery chains, for finally finding moments of joy and happiness. Also I think that everything has an explanation and all, all happens for something.



P.S: I don't accept religious answers. As the admins could say, this kind of replies will be banned. Thanks ^^.

It's a very poetic question. And I like that translation, it's quite sobering.

Life is that thing you do before you die and find out the next thing you do. Really, humans have no idea, and I believe anyone who says otherwise is selling wolf tickets.

Life is chaos. Embrace the random and you fit right in. Try to follow a plan and it blows up in your face. Really, I think it's superb to ignore traditional values in favor of random chance. Case in point, I flip a coin everyday to decide whether I will walk, drive, or catch a bus to work. Or toss a few dice to decide what I'll do on the weekends which might make me f*cking crazy, but at least I'm not often bored.
And friends. Good friends can turn a shi*ty life into Disneyland.

Depends. I know I'll die one day, but it seems far off and vague like release dates for games I wanna play. Sometimes life is just unavoidably... hard, y'know? But you can always make it better with friends.

Life is an odd subject, and I would say it is when something somehow organizes itself in just the right way to give conciousness.

Life has no meaning unless you can make one small difference on the world, because then life has no purpose. Also, honestly, how can someone have fun when they are dead?

To tell the truth, we all eventually just accept that we are all going to die some day. I think "momento mori" is another way of saying "Don't waste your life, use it while you have it."

The biological function of all living things, conscious or not, is to breed. It’s engraved into the DNA. As humans we have the preverbal “I am” syndrome, so as a species try to derive meaning from existence. The purpose of life is to pass on life.

Also as sentient creatures, we can choose not to procreate (a choice I wish more people would come to), which does set us apart from most other living things. From this, then one tries to find a meaning if they are defying their genetic purpose. Meaning then comes in forms of music, art, comedy, invention, preservation, innovation, prediction; I’m going to stop here because from here we then attempt to find a ‘higher purpose’ or ‘higher power’ and that steers the debate into places that will break forum rules (and places I don’t care to go either, as I always try to keep people from feeding the Trolls).

It sounds hollow when someone understands the purpose of their life is to pass that life on, but not to me. I’m perfectly fine not having children and leaving the world to stupid people when I die. I don’t need to ‘leave my mark on the world’, because unlike the inner need of everyone to ‘be remembered’, I know what I have done and will be content with that.

If more were content with their own situation (I am referring to the final pages of their lives, not the ‘here and now’) then dying is simply a return and a rejuvenation (not to be confused with reincarnation though; I’m referring to your body ‘feeding the worms’ and restoring energy into the living).

I am not afraid of death, and I will make the most of my life. So in short, the purpose of your life is to live it – so live it well.

Most excellent topic, shalheira!

Being , in the actuarial sense, nearer to the end of the natural progress of my particular bit of Life, and having given this very question much thought over the years, I've come to a conclusion which requires that I paraphrase the late, unlamented Mao.

When asked, probably in the 1950's, what he thought about the influence of the French Revolution on world politics, he replied: It's too soon to tell.

That pretty well sums up my attitude to Life. And it's inexorability that keeps me going.

Life is mostly a string of routines which the unusual periodically interrupts. These unusual events can make us ecstatically happy or as miserable as it possible to be but without both you don't really understand the other. My aim is to spend as much time as 'content' as I can be - happy is essentially too rare to expect it continuously. I have few demands and many interests which helps I think. I will die in time, which does not worry me though I would prefer it not to be long drawn out or painful.

I see no higher purpose but each to his own.

An interesting line I came across is "Life is what happens while you're making plans". It appears that this may have originated in a Beatles song, but I'm pretty sure that's not where I heard it.

I'm inclined to think that an individual's success or failure can (could, rather) be measured by how much they deflect the course of history. But that which conquered Ozymandias, still conquers.

That's a bit of a bummer if all you've ever managed to deflect are light waves. Or is it sound waves? Just...waves.

exactly. though my only desires are to destroy the universe (at least the world) before i die, so that no other living being may be able to enjoy it after myself, and to keep my loved ones happy no matter what (unless their being happy prevents me from destroying everything.) how do i know that the world is not all fake though? how do i know that anything is real? how do i know that people are not actually part of my imagination? maybe all things in this world that i live are imagined by me. how do i know though? how does anyone know?

saying these kind of things to anyone other than my closest friends would most likely land me in the psych ward though, so i tend to keep them to myself.

these things were typed in all seriousness.

Hey evil... I was out walking in the forest the other day and a tree fell. But it didn't make any noise. Or maybe I had just been distracted by a weird sound I heard. Sort of a clapping sound. But as if made by only one hand.... Was that you?

Life is half what you get and half what you do with it.

BTW, what does Doom Jockey mean by 'selling wolf tickets'?

yes, most likely
i was constructing my powerfist lol (seriously i was doing that two days ago though)
but that clapping sound was not from me *cough cough* damn leprechauns fapping away...

I do hope that 'leprechauns fapping away' does not refer to what I think it does. It was never my intention to besmerch shal...'s sublime thread. Oh dear... try to introduce a bit of Zen philosophy into a thread and before you know it ...the leprechauns are at it.

...i haven't read all the posts ... but I'm wondering how you can answer this question non-religiously ...

frankly what is religion but a seeking to satisfy that need to insure continuance in life ... a defense against the unknown beyond the inevitable -- all must die -- but what is there aftwards ... and what do I do about now, in the meantime?

you say that everything happens for a reason ... why?

... anyway, here goes my try ... I too believe that things are not Random .. .I believe nothing is random ... the ripples on a lake are not random ...they are just so complexly and intricately interlaced that it is impossible for us to calculate where all the energy goes or comes from ... in the same way, our lives are so intricately connected with everyone else's life around us AND there are forces at work that we don't have the senses to percieve so that we can't account for where things come from or where they go ... We don't know why I happened to meet the people I met and the series of events that openned up afterwards have their impacts on me and all those I interact with in obvious and hidden ways. My smile, my laugh, my frown my harsh word ... all have an impact.

I believe people are mistaken when they say things like, "its my life, I can do with it as I please as long as I hurt no one ..." -- How can you tell if you are hurting someone or not? How do you know that you're sleeping around with concenting adults isn't having a negative effect on others ... or your decision to wear a certain shirt or dress or pants or perfume ... or having a certain tv show air, or playing a certain game ... We have no idea at the depths or lengths that our actions ripple across and through the waters of life, crashing into other ripples....

well evil, youll have to get through a few other mad scientists who want to destroy the world before you have a chance. I doubt your puny little human brain could manage to destroy the universe though. Maybe the world but not the universe.

You will know what it feels like to actually be alive when you have some kids though kiddo. or in your case a few little demons........

hehehe
i guess it would be the same feeling as thinking of something and then actually seeing it built before your eyes.
you are right, my brain probably cannot fathom what it would take to destroy the universe. i was thinking something along the lines of antimatter, or an uber virus (it would take quite a while, but it could potentially destroy all intelligent life in the universe.)

i should start an "aggravated scientists" expo that would be pretty sweet!


EDIT: sorry for hijacking your thread shalheira

Life is an eternal pit of suffering. You spend your time trying to fill that pit with distractions to make you feel better, but sooner or later you have to face the fact that they are nothing more than that, distractions. So then you begin to lie to yourself hoping that the cliche is true and that you will begin to believe it. But then you have yet another dilemma, now you're living a lie; this religion doesn't put your soul at peace, it just threatens and scares you into pretending you are well off: you didn't marry the man of your dreams, you married the only man that was left because you were too picky: that super hot redhead is not flirting because you're so cool, she saw you drive up and the money-hungry whore wants to **** your car.

I could say something profound like To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering -DMX, but I quit lying to myself years ago. Life is suffering. The purpose of life, is to tolerate it and pass it on to others until you die. If you have that hot car, that redhead gave you an STD and you can't afford the doctor because you have no health insurance and you spent all your money on gas. That guy you finally settled for and married, he comes home everyday happy as hell because he spent the whole day making his secretary call him "daddy" on top of his desk, but don't worry, he covered that cute photo of you and the kids. And for you, take your face out of that holy book long enough to look around. Your god is letting all this happen and laughing his ass off that you think s/he gives a crap about you.

The end of the world is not happening fast enough.

Life is exactly that!

I have a simple philosophy: Life is nothing but decisions. We make hundreds of thousands of decisions every day. Some are consious and some are unconsious, but every single one will result in another decision.

Each day is a new beginning. Yesterday is gone and tomarrow has yet to arrive. I live in today!

Ultimately, we only live to keep our meat fresh.

Expect the worst and when it happens you won't be surprised, and maybe even prepared to deal with it. And if anything but the worst happens, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Every day, that's my life.

-T-

First I believe life is determined by soul lessons..which has nothing to do with religion, for I believe religion and spiritually are two different things, religion has judgement and rules, whereas spirituality, is Universal ,and embraces all as they are..
I do not however believe that the primary purpose of life is to propagate the species, that is a religious belief, for some it is, for some they have other lessons they are here to learn..la
I see life as a school house..to perfect the lessons of soul..whatever they may be, and for each it is different..and only ones truest self knows what that is..

I believe life is but a dream, and we are the dreamers, creating and recreating..our reality, or perspective of it..
I believe that to live ones life to the fullest one needs to know why they are here in the first place and that only can come from self, or soul awareness..self examination..

I believe that life was created, to teach us how to accept, embrace and unify ourselves within all our differences..
To live life to its fullest, our mistakes, our victories, what we discover and what we lose, our joys, our tears, our good pleasure, and how we each choose to find it, as long as it harmes no-one in intent, are all equal..parts of life, our challange to integrate them all..

All paths lead to the same place self awereness..soul awareness..
So I believe life is to examine self, learn, fall, get up go on, and touch others along the way, for it is part of that learning process..

i belive life is based on 3 fires that lead us all, Active Intelligence, Loves Wisdom, and the Will to Be!!!!
The feeling mind and the thinking heart, our guides..internally that is...
Life simply is.......and I believe the centre of life is love....

To quote the great Bard himself..one of my favourite lines sums it up..Life...

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

I really liked what you said, and I'll add this,and no offense is meant to anyone or their personal beliefs,but it helped me come to grips with many issues...Religion is for people who want to stay out of hell....spirituality is for people who have seen it!

With the same feeling..Aye. to that Sister, a big Aye to that!!!!!!!!