Aya is a Filipino-American living in New York City. This is her second tattoo- Hebrew script for “This too shall pass.”

Her story: “I got my Hebrew script a few days after I turned 22. It’s from a story about King Solomon. He asked his servant to find him a magical ring that had a saying on it that would make the saddest man on earth happy and the happiest man on earth sad. The ring said, “This too shall pass.” It’s kind of a reminder to myself not to give up or get too attached, to keep my head level. It was a belated memorial to my grandmother who died my sophomore year of university. I was really close to her, and when I found out that she died I kind of fell apart. It’s also just a memorial for everyone I’ve ever lost, either by death, distance, or just a falling out…it helps me move on. I got it in Hebrew because the phrase is originally in Hebrew.”

Further information about King Soloman can be found here.

Annotation: Abraham Lincoln used a version of this tale in a speech on September 30, 1859, approximately one year before he was elected president. Source: The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler. The speech can be found at http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/fair.htm.