 Among the tlamatinime—wise men who followed the intellectual tradition of Quetzalcóatl—Tezcoco’s King Nezahualcóyotl (1402–1472) was the most prominent. Tezcoco was a small kingdom and a military ally of the Aztecs. King Nezahualcóyotl developed a line of thought that has been preserved in his poetry and narrative prose, according to which he doubted the permanence of human life in a world defined by change and death. If gold and jade can splinter, he mused, then human beings must accept that their passage on earth is transitory. However, our finitude should not overwhelm us with sadness; instead, the human heart can find meaning in flor y canto (songs and flowers), which is how Nezahualcóyotl referred to art and beauty. Poetry and song persevere even as flowers wither and die, and it is our job to learn how to be patient and humble in the face of all that is beyond our ken, such as the gods’ plans, which will forever remain a mystery. Though his texts are fragmentary and poetic, we might consider Nezahualcóyotl a philosopher because he questions mythological and religious responses to traditional philosophical problems, such as essence, change, and the meaning of life. In fact, we might we might compare his thought and style to that of Heraclitus or Parmenides.