Meditations 11.34

When a man kisses his child, said Epictetus, he should whisper to himself, "To-morrow perchance thou wilt die."—But those are words of bad omen.—"No word is a word of bad omen," said Epictetus, "which expresses any work of nature; or if it is so, it is also a word of bad omen to speak of the ears of corn being reaped".

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.34, translated by George Long

A man while fondly kissing his child, says Epictetus, should whisper in his heart: 'To-morrow peradventure thou wilt die.' Ill-omened words these! Nay, said he, nothing is ill-omened that signifies a natural process. Or it is ill-omened also to talk of ears of corn being reaped.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.34, translated by C. R. Haines