Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.

Although widely attributed to the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius, this line reads like a modern paraphrase of Stoic themes rather than a traceable sentence from his surviving writings. Its core idea aligns with Stoicism: death is universal and unavoidable, so the rational response is to meet it with composure and courage rather than fear. “Smile back” functions as a metaphor for assent—choosing one’s attitude in the face of what cannot be controlled. The quote’s popularity reflects a contemporary taste for pithy, defiant resilience, even if the wording itself is likely not ancient.