Italian to English Art/Literary History Social commentary

From the preface of a novel, where the author is talking about various problems affecting the world - terrorism, environmental disasters - and how we can go about solving them. I understand the meaning here - the past always catches up with us, sooner or later, mistakes will always have to be paid for, later down the line, but I was just wondering if there was a neater way of putting the part in asterisks.

Thanks in advance for any input.

"***La storia riscuote sempre i suoi debiti***. E quelli che abbiamo accumulato negli ultimi anni sono ahimè ormai pesanti come macigni."