the sage and the parsley

"The actor Burt Reynolds is dead," Ralph Bainsamy remarked in the Tearman Cafe. "What do you think of that?"
I pondered as I do prior to dispensing my pearls of oh you know.
"Nihil de mortui Bono," I said measuredly at last.
"What does that mean?" quoth he.
"It's a saw from my old Revenue Commissioners days. It means: We're gonna tax you Bono, until you die."