Hand-casted in the USA, this double sided wax seal pendant features the Latin words MEMENTO MORI with a skull on one side, and a quote from renowned American president Theodore Roosevelt on the back. MEMENTO MORI means "Remember you will die." Let this side of the pendant remind you to live every day to its fullest potential, for we are not promised tomorrow - just as the phrase conveys, death is inevitable. This phrase and its imagery (usually a human skull) has been around since the medieval period with roots in classical antiquity and Christianity, but it is still just as relevant today. This is not a morbid message, but instead a positive reminder to make the most of every moment you are given, to recognize the opportunity in every day we wake up and keep breathing. How do you want to live life? To its fullest, or with regrets of joy undiscovered? Life is fleeting, so treasure every gift, and guide others to that same appreciation for life. THE MAN IN THE ARENA - "The credit goes to the man in the arena." ~Theodore Roosevelt [paraphrased] This famous speech was delivered by President Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne (University of Paris) in Paris, France in 1910. We'll let Roosevelt speak for himself:"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." A copy of this speech is included on a printed placard with every order, as pictured.