History Main / WeAllDieSomeday

Do not confuse with KillEmAll, AnyoneCanDie, or EverybodyDiesEnding.

->To follow you I’m not content \\
Until I know [[HeavenVersusHell which way you went!]]
->-- Anonymous response

A StockPhrase that acknowledges our own mortality. Good guys, bad guys, and everybody [[AntiHero in]] [[AntiVillain between]] will one day have to recognise that none of us will live forever — at this level of reality, at least. Even [[{{Immortality}} those who do]] may have [[WhoWantsToLiveForever pangs of regret]] because of this trope. If villains say this line, it could be their reason for their disregard of life in general. If it's a hero, expect them to be the more cynical, disillusioned type. If either of them are the AntiNihilist, then the phrase becomes more optimistic, i.e. "we all die someday, so [[CarpeDiem be awesome today]]!" Depending on where we fall on the [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism sliding scale]], we may get a "but not today" rebuttal, or a "but not forever" rebuttal for works that hold to the existence of an afterlife. It may also teach someone that AllAreEqualInDeath: no matter our stations or accomplishments or privileges in life doesn't ultimately matter since eventually we all meet the same fate.

A StockPhrase that acknowledges our own mortality. Good guys, bad guys, and everybody [[AntiHero in]] [[AntiVillain between]] will one day have to recognise that none of us will live forever — at this level of reality, at least. Even [[{{Immortality}} those who do]] may have [[WhoWantsToLiveForever pangs of regret]] because of this trope. If villains say this line, it could be their reason for their disregard of life in general. If it's a hero, expect them to be the more cynical, disillusioned type. If either of them are the AntiNihilist, then the phrase becomes more optimistic, i.e. "we all die someday, so [[CarpeDiem be awesome today]]!" Depending on where we fall on the [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism sliding scale]], we may get a "but not today" rebuttal, or a "but not forever" rebuttal for works that hold to the existence of an afterlife. It may also teach someone that AllAreEqualInDeath: no matter our stations or accomplishments or privileges in life, eventually we all meet the same fate.

A StockPhrase that acknowledges our own mortality. Good guys, bad guys, and everybody [[AntiHero in]] [[AntiVillain between]] will one day have to recognise that none of us will live forever — at this level of reality, at least. Even [[{{Immortality}} those who do]] may have [[WhoWantsToLiveForever pangs of regret]] because of this trope. If villains say this line, it could be their reason for their disregard of life in general. If it's a hero, expect them to be the more cynical, disillusioned type. If either of them are the AntiNihilist, then the phrase becomes more optimistic, i.e. "we all die someday, so [[CarpeDiem be awesome today]]!" Depending on where we fall on the [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism sliding scale]], we may get a "but not today" rebuttal, or a "but not forever" rebuttal for works that hold to the existence of an afterlife.

This is closely connected to the concept of a "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori Memento Mori]]" (GratuitousLatin for "Remember you must die"). These are symbolic reminders of mortality, the idea being that there's a certain spiritual value in occasionally reflecting on the end that comes for us all. They occur in many traditions, religious and otherwise. It can be as subtle as a SkeletonMotif or coffin or gravestone being included in a piece of art, all the way up to elaborate cultural festivals such as ''Día de los Muertos'' or UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve. Probably the most famous such icon is TheGrimReaper.

* According to some accounts in UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, a victorious general leading a triumphal procession would be accompanied by a slave standing behind him and whispering in his ear, "Respice post te. Hominem te memento"-- "Look after yourself [to the time of your death] and remember you are [only] a man." Supposedly the idea was to stop the general from [[AGodAmI starting to think he was a god]] by reminding him that all mortals will one day share the same fate.

This is closely connected to the concept of a "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori Memento Mori]]" (GratuitousLatin for "Remember you must die"). These are symbolic reminders of mortality, the idea being that there's a certain spiritual value in occasionally reflecting on the end that comes for us all. These occur in many traditions, religious and otherwise. It can be as subtle as a SkeletonMotif or coffin or gravestone being included in a piece of art, all the way up to elaborate cultural festivals such as ''Día de los Muertos'' or UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve. Probably the most famous such icon is TheGrimReaper.

A "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori Memento Mori]]" (GratuitousLatin for "Remember you must die") is a symbolic reminder of mortality, the idea being that there's a certain spiritual value in occasionally reflecting on the end that comes for us all. These occur in many traditions, religious and otherwise. It can be as subtle as a SkeletonMotif or coffin or gravestone being included in a piece of art, all the way up to elaborate cultural festivals such as ''Día de los Muertos'' or UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve. Probably the most famous such icon is TheGrimReaper.

TruthInTelevision by current medical standards.

* PlayedForLaughs in [[http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/1989-08-28/ this]] ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip. The only accurate prediction a would-be swami can offer is that "eventually, you will die...".

A "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori Memento Mori]]" (GratuitousLatin for "Remember you must die") is a symbolic reminder of mortality, the idea being that there's a certain spiritual value in occasionally reflecting on the end that comes for us all. These occur in many traditions, religious and otherwise. It can be as subtle as a SkeletonMotif or coffin or gravestone being included in a piece of art, all the way up to elaborate cultural festivals such as ''Día de los Muertos'' or UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve. TheGrimReaper is probably the most famous such icon.

-->-- '''Unknown''', epitaph on a headstone

A "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memento_mori Memento Mori]]" (GratuitousLatin for "Remember [about] your death") is a symbolic reminder of mortality, the idea being that there's a certain spiritual value in occasionally reflecting on the end that comes for us all. These occur in many traditions, religious and otherwise. It can be as subtle as a SkeletonMotif or coffin or gravestone being included in a piece of art, all the way up to elaborate cultural festivals such as ''Día de los Muertos'' or UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve. TheGrimReaper is probably the most famous such icon.

-->-- '''Unknown'''

A StockPhrase that acknowledges our own mortality. Good guys, bad guys, and everybody [[AntiHero in]] [[AntiVillain between]] will one day have to recognise that none of us will live forever — at this level of reality, at least. Even [[{{Immortality}} those who do]] may have [[WhoWantsToLiveForever pangs of regret]] because of this trope. If villains say this line, it could be their reason for their disregard of life in general. If it's a hero, expect them to be the more cynical, disillusioned type. If either of them are the AntiNihilist, then the phrase becomes more optimistic, i.e. "we all die someday, so be awesome today!" Depending on where we fall on the [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism sliding scale]], we may get a "but not today" rebuttal, or a "but not forever" rebuttal for works that hold to the existence of an afterlife.

See also WeAreAsMayflies, DontFearTheReaper, NotAfraidToDie and LifeWillKillYou. Compare WhoWantsToLiveForever. Do not confuse with KillEmAll. Contrast LivingForeverIsAwesome and ImmortalitySeeker. A work may invoke this trope in a DeadlyDistantFinale. One StockJoke referencing this trope is TheThreeCertaintiesInLife.

--> '''Achilles''': "Everyone dies. Today, or fifty years from now. What difference does it make?"

---> '''Great God Om''': "In a hundred years, we'll all be dead." [[note]]'''Brutha''': But HERE and NOW [[TheAntiNihilist we are alive]]![[/note]]

--> Yes, it is true, death is everyone's fate\\

--> Everybody lives, and everybody dies one day\\

--> My mission is to destroy; I do it coldly. I take those who are mine, young and old.

* In one ''WebComic/CyanideAndHappiness'' strip, a man comments that he ate a "Do not eat" packet (silica gel) and asks if he's going to die. His friend answers that everyone is going to die. The first man gasps in horror. "Everyone? What have I done?"

--> '''Guy 1''' (Points gun) You're gonna die!
--> '''Guy 2''' We're all gonna die.
--> (Guy 1 contemplates this, then solemnly puts down gun).
* The second episode of ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'' ends with Tony the Clock singing "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine. But eventually everyone runs out of time." after [[spoiler:causing the characters to experience themselves aging and then ''melting''.]]

--> [[spoiler: Aunghadhail]]: All things end.

'''Homer''' ''[[BerserkButton (furious)]]'': Why you little!\\

** The manga ''Akagi'' is a prequel to, ''Manga/{{Ten}}'', shows that Akagi holds to this decades later. [[spoiler:When faced with a terminal illness, Akagi meets the people closest to him one last time, ensuring they all find closure, and then ends his own life with no worries or regrets. He knew death would come at some point, and when the time came, met it on his own terms.]]

* In one WesternAnimation/BugsBunny short, Bugs says "Never take life too seriously. You'll never get out of it alive!"

* Looking beyond humanity, Augustine argues in his ''Literature/{{Confessions}}'' that worshipping or loving anything in the place of {{God}} is futile, since all things in life are finite and passing parts of the larger whole. To center life around any finite thing would be like stopping someone from finishing their sentence just to hear one random syllable spoken: the part loses its meaning if it isn't part of the whole.
* This really sinks in for the main character at the end of ''Literature/DandelionWine''.

* In ''[[Literature/FightClub Fight Club]]'', Creator/ChuckPalahniuk says this.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/TheGoldenOecumene The Golden Transcedence]]'', that everyone will die is central to the conflict; Sophotechs in the Solar System are planning for the heat death of the universe, culminating in the death of everything, so that it will be peaceful. [[spoiler:The Silent Oecumene, on the other hand, considers this to be as peaceful as the grave, and calls for struggle if it's needed for there to be life.]]

* In Herodotus' ''Literature/TheHistories'' (5th century BC) account of the Persian War, Xerxes looks over his army and comments that in a hundred years, every single man there will be dead. OlderThanFeudalism.
* The Abhorsens in ''Literature/TheOldKingdom'' combat necromancers, who raise up the dead to be servants to their will, but [[BadPowersGoodPeople they have the exact same magic at their disposal]]. In contrast, Sabriel's father reminds her that "Everyone and everything has a time to die" -- and it is essential for an Abhorsen to remember this, in order for them to meet their death, and other deaths which they would rather undo, with grace.
* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', the RiddlingSphinx Isadora brings up this point when discussing with Blake Thorburn. He objects to [[PrepareToDie her informing him, that she is going to kill him]] by arguing that [[DoomedProtagonist he is already destined to die.]]

* Comes up a few times in ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'', especially in regards to Mace's (admittedly rather unsuccessful) attempts to save lives. The most prominent use is after Kar Vastor, who had previously been on Mace's side, [[GeneralRipper runs off to do his own thing]], killing one of Mace's loyal companions in the process.

* Comes up in ''Literature/TroyRising'' when Comet has a chat with one of the local AI's about the way they deliberately suppress part of their hyperintelligence to avoid knowing things they know they ''mustn't'' know. Such as, for example, the way that each and every one of their human friends will eventually die. Thinking about stuff like that would be too depressing even for an AI, and talking about it would depress the ''humans'' even more.
* Implied in a catchphrase of Creator/HPLovecraft concerning the long-term future of the world and its dormant immortals. "That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die." The only exceptions to mortality in his vision are the Old Ones, who are neither dead nor alive; described by Lovecraft as eternally "dead and dreaming". For the Old Ones, the words “death” and “sleep” are interchangeable.
* In chapter 17 of ''Literature/{{Stray}}'', Pufftail learns that ''everyone'' dies. Despite being an adult, he assumed that "the Great Stillness" only occurred to the unlucky. He refuses to believe that death is unavoidable.
* Near the end of ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown,'' Paul makes a remark to this effect to Thrym, who has achieved a [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul kind of immortality at the expense of his humanity.]]
-->"And there’ll always be ''time'' to go back. I don’t get old. I can’t die any more!" Thrym said.
-->"You will eventually," Paul said. “Everyone dies eventually. It will just take a lot longer for you, is all. The universe itself is mortal."

* The 1947 FilmNoir ''Body and Soul'' ends with a boxer refusing to fix a prizefight. Making this basic fact of life a BadassBoast:

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Rocket Raccoon ends up joining in the Guardians' taking a stand against Ronan, conceding, "Aw, what the hell, I don't got that long a life span anyway."

* In ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Part 2'', Neville Longbottom gives a RousingSpeech which includes the line "People die every day", to convince the defenders of Hogwarts to not give up even after [[spoiler: the apparent death of Harry.]]

* In ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'', Balian meets his friend [[NoNameGiven the Hospitaller]] who is riding to join the rest of his order in the hopeless Battle of Hattin.

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'', Gandalf says something to this effect to comfort Pippin when things look rather dire: "End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One that we all must take."

* The source of Bruno Gaido's courage in ''Film/Midway2019'', with an added helping of "You never know how or when." As an example, he tells the story of his uncle, who worked construction on the Empire State Building without safety equipment and without fear...and then died in a car accident while walking home from church.

* Splinter incorporates this into a BadassBoast in the first ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' film.

* Briefly comes up in ''Film/TheWholeNineYards''. Bruce Willis has a chat with Matthew Perry about the high suicide rate of dentists, unaware that Perry knows that he is a former [[ProfessionalKillers mob hitman]], and is scared shitless about it. Perry comments that "[[ButtMonkey I may hate my life]], but I do NOT want to die." to which Bruce responds "Well, get used to it, 'cuz you're gonna." Beat. Perry looks terrified. "...we're all gonna die someday, y'know?"
* In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', when Logan confronts Xavier on not caring about the mutant genocide in the future, Xavier responds with this trope as a sign of how broken he is.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The oft-quoted Latin phrase ''Memento mori'' (literally, "remember [the fact of] death") is usually translated as "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die", or "Remember you will die". Its usage [[OlderThanFeudalism dates back to the time of antiquity]]; when a Roman general was given a Triumph (victory parade), a slave was assigned to speak these words to him to remind him that even if at the moment he might be treated like one, the victorious general is not a god, and will die like everyone else some day.
* Invoked by John Maynard Keynes: "In the long run we're all dead." The point of this statement is a reminder that the purpose of an economy is to allocate resources to ''real, living people'' -- failing at this for the sake of the long-term health of the system itself makes the whole thing worthless. In specific, the context was an attack on the phrase "in the long run" when a prediction that something will happen in the "long run" doesn't specify a period of time for it to happen, among other things. The full quote:
-->"In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if, in tempestuous seasons, they can only tell us that when the storm is long past the ocean is flat again."
* Stoicism (the school of philosophy, though the practitioners of which would likely be an example of [[TheStoic the trope they named]]) held that sorrow should not be felt for anything not under one's control. Anaxagoras, a Greek Stoic, was told of his only son's death and simply answered, "I was aware that I had begotten a mortal."
* A popular headstone poem reads as such:
--> ''Remember me as you pass by,''
--> ''As you are now, so once was I,''
--> ''As I am now, so you will be,''
--> ''Prepare for death and follow me.''
[[/folder]]

* In the ''Comicbook/XMen'', during the classic Brood arc in the early 80s, after the X-Men were facing certain death from being infested with Brood eggs, Colossus tried to console ComicBook/KittyPryde after a nightmare, and makes a similar speech, at one point reminding Kitty, "We are all dying from the moment we are born, indeed from the moment of our conception...Our lives are finite things."

--> "Men die. Every single one of us. That's a fact and that's our fate."

* In ''ComicBook/TheBlackRing'', this is how [[ComicBook/TheSandman Death of the Endless]] responds to Luthor ranting about how DeathIsCheap. Resurrection may happen every now and then, but ultimately she will be the one closing shop on the universe and everyone in it. So it doesn't really matter.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'': One comic sees the death of both a man who'd been around since the Ice Age and a baby only a few weeks old. Both protest that they still had so much to do, but Death tells them they got the same as everyone else: [[ExactWords a lifetime.]]
* A 1940s ''Comicbook/TheFlash'' comic involves the following exchange on a stage:
-->Tell me where the Carbridge Diamond is or you '''die!'''\\
Nerts to that racket! I'm going to die someday anyway!\\
Well, let's make it today -- I '''love''' shooting people!\\
(''falling, shot'') For heaven's sake -- I thought he was kidding!