The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor,

The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door;

The chest, contriv'd a double debt to pay,—

A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): The Deserted Village. Line 227.

Let the world slide, let the world go;

A fig for care, and a fig for woe!

If I can't pay, why I can owe,

And death makes equal the high and low.

John Heywood (Circa 1565): Be Merry Friends.

More is thy due than more than all can pay.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act i. Sc. 4.