Friday Recap - 2025/03/08
How to never be bored, and reflections on mortality.
How To Never Be Bored
Originally published on giolodi.com, 2025/03/01.
To never be bored, always have something to think deeply about.
To always have something to think deeply about, always be learning something new.
This is how author Louis L’Amour lived his life, particularly during his teens and twenties as he wandered around the world and educated himself by reading in the order of a 100 books a year.
As he wrote in Education of a Wandering Man:
The beauty of educating oneself as I was doing, or as anyone can do, is that there are no limits to what can be learned. All that is learned demands contemplation, and so one is never at a loss for something to do.
This is a cheap and effective antidote to boredom. One that will also strengthen the ability to focus so important to live an intentional life and to thrive in the knowledge economy.
Memento Mori. Tempus Edax Rerum.
Originally published on giolodi.com, 2025/03/05.
Two mantras on mortality from Ancient Rome that pair well together.
The first is Memento Mori, literary “remember to die,” but more commonly translated as “remember you must die.” It’s a recurring theme in Stoic philosophy, a filter function to prioritize and a way to ground oneself.
The second is Tempus Edax Rerum. It comes from the poet Ovid from the Metamorphoses book 15, verse 234 and can be translated to “time devours everything.”1
Both call to attention how ephemeral our existence is.
It might be tempting to interpret them as an excuse to slack. An invitation to nihilism. If nothing last, what’s the point in even trying?
On the contrary, they are a call to action. Time devours everything, so keep things into perspective, let go of the petty, and don’t think too grandly of yourself. Remember you must die, so don’t waste the precious little time you have.
You can hold them in your mind and look at them in both directions. Time devours everything, so remember that you, too, will die. Remember you must die; time, after all, devours everything.
Few things are as powerful as contemplating your own upcoming death to keep you present and focused.
Sooner or later, time will devour all the people and things you care about. Better make the most of them while you have the chance.
For a richer version of the Ovid quote, in context, see Henry T. Riley’s translation, conserved by Project Gutenberg.