In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.

The line is commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin in the context of the early United States’ fiscal realities after the Revolution. Franklin used it in a private letter to his friend Jean-Baptiste Le Roy while discussing the new federal Constitution and the inevitability of taxation under any government. Written in 1789, as the new constitutional system was being implemented, the remark reflects a pragmatic, worldly tone typical of Franklin’s correspondence: political arrangements may change, but certain human and civic facts—mortality and the state’s need for revenue—remain unavoidable.

Franklin’s aphorism compresses a sober view of life and governance into a memorable parallel. “Death” represents the inescapable limit of individual existence; “taxes” represent the inescapable demands of collective life, since organized society requires resources. The pairing suggests that while people may hope for permanence, stability, or perfect political solutions, the only true certainties are universal mortality and the recurring obligations imposed by the state. Its enduring appeal lies in its plainspoken realism and its wry acknowledgment that even liberty and constitutional change do not abolish the basic conditions of human life.

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.

1) "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." 2) "Nothing is certain but death and taxes." 3) "Nothing is certain except death and taxes."