We all have a debt to nature due,
I've paid mine - and so must you.

Variations and History:
The earliest known version of this epitaph reads: Death is a debt to nature due. Which I have paid and so must you.
Though it now seems like a humorous thing to write on a headstone, it was once quite common from at least the late 1700's to mid 1800's. Sightings of this epitaph range from East Poultney Cemetery, Vermont; to Bridgewater, Massachusetts.