Especially during the Baroque era, the phrase was important. In the 17th century there was the Thirty Years' war, which lasted roughly from 1618 to 1648. For the people of the time, death was present almost everywhere. To compensate for that there were the concepts of "Carpe diem" (There is little time left, use it as best you can), "Vanitas" (Vanity; things are not what they seem), and Memento mori (Remember you will die). 