Death and taxes (idiom)

Death and taxes is a common reference to the famous quotation^[1]:

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
— Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789

However, Franklin's letter is not the origin of the phrase, which appeared earlier in Daniel Defoe's The History of the Devil^[2].

Things as certain as Death and Taxes, can be more firmly believ’d.
— Daniel Defoe The Political History of the Devil 1726.

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^ Smyth, Albert Henry (1907). The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. X (1789-1790). New York: MacMillian. p. 69.
^ "The political history of the devil, as well ancient as modern in two parts. Defoe, Daniel". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2015-10-29.

[1] Smyth, Albert Henry (1907). The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. X (1789-1790). New York: MacMillian. p. 69.

[2] "The political history of the devil, as well ancient as modern in two parts. Defoe, Daniel". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2015-10-29.

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