--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Death comes along like a gas bill one…" description: "\"Death comes along like a gas bill one can't pay.\" — Anthony Burgess" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/anthony-burgess-1167_bills_death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-ca_1133833.jpg" --- # Death comes along like a gas bill one can't pay. ![“Death comes along like a gas bill one can't pay.” quote by Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/anthony-burgess-1167_bills_death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-ca_1133833.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/anthony-burgess-1167_bills_death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-ca_1133833.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/anthony-burgess-1167_bills_death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-ca_1133833.jpg) > “Death comes along like a gas bill one can't pay.” [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Death is likened to an unavoidable, mounting bill. **In simple terms:** Death is inevitable and burdensome. Key Takeaway Prepare for life's inevitable endings. Themes mortality inevitability burden Mood somber reflective Type philosophical dark humor When to use this quote - financial planning - health care decisions - legacy building Key Concepts existential dread financial metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How does this comparison affect your view of mortality? - What steps can you take to mitigate the 'bill' of death? A Different Perspective Metaphor may oversimplify complex emotions about death. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bills/) [Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes/) [Comes Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-like-1014553/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-comes/) [Gas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gas/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [Like Gas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-gas-1451262/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) ## Related quotes > [Death comes along like a gas bill one can't payand that's all one can sayabout it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-can-t-payand-that-s-all-one-can/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Grief, when it comes, is nothing like we expect it to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/grief-when-it-comes-is-nothing-like-we-expect-it-to-be/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [About once every four days, someone comes up to me and is like, 'Hey, I know you from somewhere.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-gallo/about-once-every-four-days-someone-comes-up-to-me-and-is-like-hey-i/) [Carla Gallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-gallo/) > [Death comes for us all in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-comes-for-us-all-in-the-end/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With death comes honesty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/with-death-comes-honesty/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“But death comes for us all, and for some, not soon enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aim-lie-aames/but-death-comes-for-us-all-and-for-some-not-soon-enough/) [Aimélie Aames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aim-lie-aames/) > [Death comes to those who wait. And to those who don't. So either way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darynda-jones/death-comes-to-those-who-wait-and-to-those-who-don-t-so-either-way/) [Darynda Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darynda-jones/) > [Lisa! Her teeth are big and green. Lisa, she smells like gas-o-line. Lisa, da da da disa. On her birthday, I miss ya.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bart-simpson/lisa-her-teeth-are-big-and-green-lisa-she-smells-like-gas-o-line-lisa/) [Bart Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bart-simpson/) > [Despair ... is like a gas, odourless, tasteless, without nourishment. You breathe it in, your limbs relax, you cease to care, even at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/despair-is-like-a-gas-odourless-tasteless-without-nourishment-you/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [It's like gas for a Corvette, I can only do premium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-j-hernandez-drg/it-s-like-gas-for-a-corvette-i-can-only-do-premium/) [Felix J Hernandez - DRG](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-j-hernandez-drg/) > [“Go on, you've claimed your thirty pieces of silver, go do something crazy like put gas in that penis replacement you call transportation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-harper/go-on-you-ve-claimed-your-thirty-pieces-of-silver-go-do-something/) [Molly Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-harper/) > [Suppose we were (as we might be) an influence, an idea, a thing intangible, invulnerable, without front or back, drifting about like a gas?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/suppose-we-were-as-we-might-be-an-influence-an-idea-a-thing/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [Goals are like the gas in your car, you may go in many different directions after you fill up, but with out the gas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garrison-wynn/goals-are-like-the-gas-in-your-car-you-may-go-in-many-different/) [Garrison Wynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garrison-wynn/) > [“If he ever frosted his hair blue, he’d look like a gas burner.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/if-he-ever-frosted-his-hair-blue-he-d-look-like-a-gas-burner/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [Column writing is like gas - it fills the available space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/column-writing-is-like-gas-it-fills-the-available-space/) [Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/) ## More by Anthony Burgess > [If you expect the worst from a person you can never be disappointed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/if-you-expect-the-worst-from-a-person-you-can-never-be-disappointed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Life is a wretched gray Saturday, but it has to be lived through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/life-is-a-wretched-gray-saturday-but-it-has-to-be-lived-through/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [A novelist should not be too intelligent either, although... he may be permitted to be an intellectual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-novelist-should-not-be-too-intelligent-either-although-he-may-be/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“A man who serves language, however imperfectly, should always serve truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-man-who-serves-language-however-imperfectly-should-always-serve/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [All human life is here, but the Holy Ghost seems to be somewhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/all-human-life-is-here-but-the-holy-ghost-seems-to-be-somewhere-else/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Rome's just a city like anywhere else. A vastly overrated city, I'd say. It trades on belief just as Stratford trades on Shakespeare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/rome-s-just-a-city-like-anywhere-else-a-vastly-overrated-city-i-d-say/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may operate. Life is sustained by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-important-thing-is-moral-choice-evil-has-to-exist-along-with-good/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Civilised my syphilised yarbles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/civilised-my-syphilised-yarbles/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The downtrodden are the great creators of slang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-downtrodden-are-the-great-creators-of-slang/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Without class differences, England would cease to be the living theatre it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/without-class-differences-england-would-cease-to-be-the-living/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [The ideal reader of my novels is a lapsed Catholic and failed musician, short-sighted, colour-blind, auditorily biased, who has read the books that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-ideal-reader-of-my-novels-is-a-lapsed-catholic-and-failed/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [... A CLOCKWORK ORANGE- and I said: 'That's a fair gloopy title. Who ever heard of a clockwork orange?' Then I read a malenky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-clockwork-orange-and-i-said-that-s-a-fair-gloopy-title-who-ever/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [A work of fiction should be, for its author, a journey into the unknown, and the prose should convey the difficulties of the journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/a-work-of-fiction-should-be-for-its-author-a-journey-into-the-unknown/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“They don't go into what is the cause of goodness, so why of the other shop? If lewdies are good that's because they like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/they-don-t-go-into-what-is-the-cause-of-goodness-so-why-of-the-other/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“By definition, a human being is endowed with free will. He can use this to choose between good and evil. If he can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/by-definition-a-human-being-is-endowed-with-free-will-he-can-use-this/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) [Explore all 261 Anthony Burgess quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) ## More Bills quotes > [If you’re a person struggling to eat and stay healthy you might have heard about Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali, but you’ll never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/if-you-re-a-person-struggling-to-eat-and-stay-healthy-you-might-have/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Some of the folks on both sides might be sincere, but it does seem as if it is only the opposition that cares about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-bovard/some-of-the-folks-on-both-sides-might-be-sincere-but-it-does-seem-as/) [James Bovard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-bovard/) > [ \[Sport officials\] blocked their support of us. But those individuals \[ Muhammad Ali, the Jim Browns, the Bill Russells, Kareem Abdul Jabbar \] were… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos/sport-officials-blocked-their-support-of-us-but-those-individuals/) [John Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos/) > [Simple fairness dictates that government must not raise taxes on families struggling to pay their bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/simple-fairness-dictates-that-government-must-not-raise-taxes-on/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [ I will not agree to have this bill \[to repeal DADT \] go forward, because our economy is in the tank. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mccain/i-will-not-agree-to-have-this-bill-to-repeal-dadt-go-forward-because/) [John McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mccain/) > [This is not really currency that circulates. It's like the old joke about expensive vintage wine. Wine prices will go up and once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/this-is-not-really-currency-that-circulates-it-s-like-the-old-joke/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [If Bill Gates left Microsoft we wouldn't allow Donald Trump to run it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-i-am/if-bill-gates-left-microsoft-we-wouldn-t-allow-donald-trump-to-run-it/) [will.i.am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-i-am/) > [Your goal should be to pay off your credit card bills in full at the end of each month and set aside money toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/your-goal-should-be-to-pay-off-your-credit-card-bills-in-full-at-the/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [He's fat and a clown, Bill, a fat clown for all to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eamon-dunphy/he-s-fat-and-a-clown-bill-a-fat-clown-for-all-to-see/) [Eamon Dunphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eamon-dunphy/) > [There's nothing nice about Steve Jobs and there's nothing evil about Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-peddle/there-s-nothing-nice-about-steve-jobs-and-there-s-nothing-evil-about/) [Chuck Peddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-peddle/) > [At first I thought, if I were Superman, a perfect secret identity would be "Clark Kent, Dentist," because you could save money on tooth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/at-first-i-thought-if-i-were-superman-a-perfect-secret-identity-would/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [Whether it's people walking off 'The View' when Bill O'Reilly makes a statement about radical Islam or Juan Williams being fired for expressing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-cantor/whether-it-s-people-walking-off-the-view-when-bill-o-reilly-makes-a/) [Eric Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-cantor/) > [The one thing the police cannot protect us from is a politician like Bill de Blasio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/the-one-thing-the-police-cannot-protect-us-from-is-a-politician-like/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [Bill Hicks - blowtorch, excavator, truthsayer, and brain specialist. He will correct your vision. Others will drive on the road he built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/bill-hicks-blowtorch-excavator-truthsayer-and-brain-specialist-he/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) [Browse all 2,663 Bills quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bills/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Death comes along like a gas bill one can't pay.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anthony Burgess" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-can-t-pay/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bills" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-can-t-pay/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/anthony-burgess-1167_bills_death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-ca_1133833.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/anthony-burgess-1167_bills_death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-ca_1133833.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/anthony-burgess-1167_bills_death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-ca_1133833.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Death comes along like a gas bill one can't pay.” — Anthony Burgess", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anthony Burgess", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Death comes along like a gas...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-can-t-pay/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/death-comes-along-like-a-gas-bill-one-can-t-pay/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```