As a Friday the 13th approaches it is fitting to recall one of Benjamin Franklin’s many quotes.

This one, which may have been one of his last great ones, was written on Friday the 13th of November, 1789, in a letter to French scientist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy. Franklin wrote in French and the letter was later translated into English. 

“Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes,” Franklin said. He died April 17, 1790.