Prov. Death makes everyone equal, because it does not spare anyone, not even the wealthy, famous, or talented. (Also the cliché: the great leveler, death.) The wealthy tycoon lived as though he were exempt from every law, but death is the great leveler and came to him the same as to everyone else. We hoped that the brilliant pianist would entertain us with her music for many decades, but death, the great leveler, did not spare her.