Motto — All Debts Will be Paid

Question

Looking for use of this in a motto, like below a family coat of arms. No matter what, we will pay our debts to those we owe.

Thanks!

Answer 1

This is a good question, and there are a million possible answers to it, but I will list fewer than that here, and others will also, I hope, add a few more possibilities.

• "Debita solventur omnia" is a straightforward sentence which means simply that all debts will be paid. The word order can be re-arranged to whatever you like with no change in meaning and only slight change in emphasis.

• You can replace "solventur" above with "persolventur" to mean paid in full, a more emphatic expression.

• You could change the indicative "solventur" (will be paid) to a jussive "solvantur" (let them be paid!). Again, you can put the prefix "per-" in front of "solvantur" to emphasize this.

• If you want something even more legal sounding, official, and old fashioned, you can replace "solvantur" with "solvuntor".

I could go on, but I've probably said more than enough!

Answer 2

Matthew 18:28 has a pithy way of expressing this:

Redde quod debes.

Literally: "Give back what you owe."

This comes with a major caveat, however: it's in the context of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, and is uttered by the petty servant. The full story can be found in Matthew 18:23-35, and the portrait isn't very flattering:

. . . Egressus autem servus ille invenit unum de conservis suis, qui debebat ei centum denarios: et tenens suffocavit eum, dicens: Redde quod debes. Et procidens conservus ejus, rogabat eum, dicens: Patientiam habe in me, et omnia reddam tibi. Ille autem noluit: sed abiit, et misit eum in carcerem donec redderet debitum. . . .