The saying “No good deed goes unpunished” has always intrigued me. I’ve wondered whether it has ancient origins, like so many other proverbs, and was curious about the context from which it was born. I’ve also always had mixed feelings about it, wondering about the intention behind the saying and whether it’s a good saying to use.
Fiction’s Proverb
The origins of our modern version of the saying are somewhat unclear, but it may trace back to a 12th-century Latin text, “De Nugis Curialium” by courtier Walter Map, which describes a most terrible fictional character, a character who adheres to a sort of inverted morality and is described as follows:“He put the worst of men to command the bad, he gave additional authority and power to those who were wickedest in their attacks on the innocent, and promoted over all others those to whom pity was unknown. He spared none of his band who inclined to spare any, left no good deed unpunished, no bad one unrewarded; and when he could find no rival and no rebel on earth, like Capaneus, he challenged opposition from heaven. He spoiled churchyards, violated churches, and desisted not either for fear of the living or respect for the dead.”
I was very struck upon reading the description of this character; I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to why. Over time, as with most proverbs, the saying appeared in various contexts and took on a variety of forms.
Good Deeds Shine
Perhaps we’re living in inverted times—an inversion similar to the one embraced by the character in Map’s story above. In many arenas, good and evil have been turned on their heads. (Reading The Epoch Times is a helpful reminder of this, while at the same time being a heartening assurance of the good community of folks still out there.)Think of all the people who have been “canceled” in recent times for refusing to go along with the inversion of good and evil. They have certainly been punished for their good deeds. We know, for example, that raising concerns with one’s local school board or library about books we may deem unhealthy for our children takes a lot of courage, and that we may be “punished” for it somehow.
The list goes on. Yes, it’s likely that this principle has always been true in the world—what Jesus, many of the apostles, and the saints endured are prime examples of the principle of being punished for goodness. Ditto for people of faith everywhere. It’s a profound story that lies beyond the scope of today’s humble column.
But ultimately, we know that everything unfolding in our world is being watched from on high and is being overseen.
So in that vein, I propose this new version of the saying:
“No good deed goes unpunished or unrewarded.”
There’s surely both punishment and reward for goodness. Sometimes, we see the rewards here in our lives on earth; sometimes, we don’t. Yet, we know that they will come.
To set the record straight, I’ll leave you with a passage from “Summa Theologica” by Thomas Aquinas:
“For as punishment is to the evil act, so is reward to a good act. Now no evil deed is unpunished by God the just judge. Therefore no good deed is unrewarded, and so every good deed merits some good.”
Keep on keeping on. Keep up your voices, and be willing to take the “punishment”—as The Epoch Times and especially its reporters in Asia have done. And remember, too, that no good deed goes unrewarded.
