WHO SAID NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED?
Barton21c
Does anyone know who is the attributed author for the quote, "No good deed goes
unpunished?" Please e-mail bart...@aol.com. Many thanks!
Robert M. Wilson
In article <19971128174...@ladder02.news.aol.com>,
It is an ironic corruption of the old saying "No bad deed goes unpunished."
It has been attributed, among others, to Oscar Wilde and Brooks Thomas, but I
have never seen an exact source. The earliest I can track down is in Joe
Orton's diary (1967) in which he quotes George Greeves.
The National Folk Hero of the Net
In <65pqm3$p51$1...@frasier.island.net>, r...@island.net wrote:
> In <19971128174...@ladder02.news.aol.com>, bart...@aol.com wrote:
> > Does anyone know who is the attributed author for the quote, "No good deed
> > goes unpunished?"
>
And very often to Clare Boothe Luce.
-:-
"Funny thing about post-operative mental states ..."
--Thurber, "The Cane in the Corridor"
--
Col. G. L. Sicherman
home: col...@mail.monmouth.com
work: sich...@lucent.com
web: <http://www.monmouth.com/~colonel>
Daniel P. B. Smith
In article <65pqm3$p51$1...@frasier.island.net>,
>>Does anyone know who is the attributed author for the quote, "No good deed
>goes
>have never seen an exact source. The earliest I can track down is in Joe
>Orton's diary (1967) in which he quotes George Greeves.
As to the original, of which it is a corruption, I thought it was "no good
deed goes unrewarded." However, it's probably fruitless to ask too much
about the origins of short sayings. I do find the following in McGuffey's
New Fourth Electic Reader. (The stories in the McGuffey's readers are
actually quite lively and interesting, sometimes humorous, occasionally
ironic--but they do have a tendency to be _edifying_ and usually end by
citing an explicit moral.
Page 103, close of Lesson XXX, "Harry and his Dog." Emphasis is from the
original!
"Is not Frisk a fine, grateful fellow? and does he not deserve a share of
Harry's breakfast, whether he begs for it or not? And little Harry will
remember from the events of this day, that _kindness_, even though shown
to a dog, will always be _rewarded;_ and that _ill-nature_ and
_bad-temper_ are connected with nothing _pain_ and _disgrace._"
Oh, and from Lesson VI, "The Good-Natured Boy" (capitalization in
original!) "'Ah!' said Henry, "A GOOD ACTION IS NEVER THROWN AWAY. If I
had not saved the horse's life this morning, I should have been obliged to
stay in the wood all night."
Mark Twain wrote a funny burlesque of this sort of story, which he called
"Magnanimous-incident literature."
--
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbs...@world.std.com
billa...@earthlink.net
Here's my quote notes on this modern proverb (no, that's not an
oxymoron).
deed: No good deed goes unpunished.
Generosity. That was my first mistake. I leave these people a little
bit extra and they hire these men to make trouble. It shows you, sooner
or later you must answer for every good deed. The Magnificent Seven
(1961 film), Eli Wallach. transcribed from videotape 8/94
William Roberts, The Magnificent Seven (1960 film), spoken by the
bandit leader Calvera (Eli Wallach). Roberts adapted Akira Kurosawa’s
samurai film story; Walter Bernstein also did uncredited writing (maybe
additional dialog?). Calvera also has this Nietzschean observation about
his peasant victims: If God hadn't meant for them to be sheared, he
wouldn't have made them sheep. 11/97
Nobody does good to men to men with impunity. Auguste Rodin
(1840-1917). Mencken, 32. 10/24/95
Also see Nigel Rees's _Brewer's Quotations_ 1994, p. 354:
... James Agate in _Ego 3_ (for 25 January 1938) states: '[Isidore Leo]
Pavia was in great form today: "Every good deed brings its own
punishment."'
Bill Thomas
Lancaster, California