Uploaded May 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Your wristwatch is a Memento Mori, a reminder that you will die. Tick by tick, so do your minutes hasten to their end.
A "continual discontent" is called dysthymia. Strangely, it is a characteristic of high achievers: it seems as though they are never satisfied by what they have gained already.
I'm reminded of a story I read when I was a child. It might have been by Edith Nesbit who wrote The Railway Children and Five Children And It. I had a passion for Edith Nesbit when I was about eight and read everything she wrote. Of course I could be mistaken about this attribution
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Nesbit.
Three children find themselves in a sticky situation, having been captured and brought before a native king. The eldest of the three children -- who are all travelling in dressing gowns and pyjamas for some reason - in a show of bravado throws down his dressing gown cord and proclaims "whoever steps over my furry belt will die". At this, the head of the king's army, who captured them and brought them before the king, walks forward and boldly steps over the dressing gown cord.
The king calls his three court philosophers for their opinion on the matter. The three philosophers are all dressed in sports attire, for some reason that again I can't remember.
The first philosopher, who is dressed for a tennis match, says "well, he didn't say how."
The second philosopher, who is dressed for a rugby game, says "and, he didn't say where."
The third philosopher, who is dressed in cricket gear says "and, he didn't say when."
Most of us do not know how, or where, or when we are going to die. Those who are given this information, possibly because they have a terminal illness, become more altruistic, it improves their character. That's all it takes. If you want to be a nicer person, then remember always that you are going to die - probably sooner than you think. Facing up to your mortality makes you a better person. How do you want to be remembered?
Money can only buy you things here. If there's nothing you want, then you should choose carefully who will spend it. Who needs it most? So much inheritance ends up in the wrong hands. Don't push it out of your mind and pretend it won't happen It will. Make a will. It's easier than you think. Making a will is an important step towards becoming a better person. It shows that you have passed the immature, self absorbed stage in life when you thought you were all-powerful and immortal.
Paintings:
The Sick Child, 1940, by Theodore Garman (1924-1954)
Young Women in Bed by Jacob Collins. More paintings here:
jacobcollinspaintings.com/youngwoman.html
I wakened on my hot, hard bed;
Upon the pillow lay my head;
Beneath the pillow I could hear
My little watch was ticking clear.
I thought the throbbing of it went
Like my continual discontent,
I thought it said in every tick:
I am so sick, so sick, so sick;
O death, come quick,come quick, come quick,
Come quick, come quick, come quick, come quick.
Your wristwatch is a Memento Mori, a reminder that you will die. Tick by tick, so do your minutes hasten to their end.
A "continual discontent" is called dysthymia. Strangely, it is a characteristic of high achievers: it seems as though they are never satisfied by what they have gained already.
I'm reminded of a story I read when I was a child. It might have been by Edith Nesbit who wrote The Railway Children and Five Children And It. I had a passion for Edith Nesbit when I was about eight and read everything she wrote. Of course I could be mistaken about this attribution
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Nesbit.
Three children find themselves in a sticky situation, having been captured and brought before a native king. The eldest of the three children -- who are all travelling in dressing gowns and pyjamas for some reason - in a show of bravado throws down his dressing gown cord and proclaims "whoever steps over my furry belt will die". At this, the head of the king's army, who captured them and brought them before the king, walks forward and boldly steps over the dressing gown cord.
The king calls his three court philosophers for their opinion on the matter. The three philosophers are all dressed in sports attire, for some reason that again I can't remember.
The first philosopher, who is dressed for a tennis match, says "well, he didn't say how."
The second philosopher, who is dressed for a rugby game, says "and, he didn't say where."
The third philosopher, who is dressed in cricket gear says "and, he didn't say when."
Most of us do not know how, or where, or when we are going to die. Those who are given this information, possibly because they have a terminal illness, become more altruistic, it improves their character. That's all it takes. If you want to be a nicer person, then remember always that you are going to die - probably sooner than you think. Facing up to your mortality makes you a better person. How do you want to be remembered?
Money can only buy you things here. If there's nothing you want, then you should choose carefully who will spend it. Who needs it most? So much inheritance ends up in the wrong hands. Don't push it out of your mind and pretend it won't happen It will. Make a will. It's easier than you think. Making a will is an important step towards becoming a better person. It shows that you have passed the immature, self absorbed stage in life when you thought you were all-powerful and immortal.
Paintings:
The Sick Child, 1940, by Theodore Garman (1924-1954)
Young Women in Bed by Jacob Collins. More paintings here:
jacobcollinspaintings.com/youngwoman.html
I wakened on my hot, hard bed;
Upon the pillow lay my head;
Beneath the pillow I could hear
My little watch was ticking clear.
I thought the throbbing of it went
Like my continual discontent,
I thought it said in every tick:
I am so sick, so sick, so sick;
O death, come quick,come quick, come quick,
Come quick, come quick, come quick, come quick.
