No good deed goes unpunished

The phrase 'No good deed goes unpunished' is a sardonic commentary on the frequency with which acts of kindness backfire on those who offer them. In other words, those who help others are doomed to suffer as a result of their helpfulness.

It has been attributed to several luminaries, including Billy Wilder,^[1] writer Clare Boothe Luce, American financier John P. Grier, banker Andrew W. Mellon,^[2] and Oscar Wilde. Although its actual origin has never been established, Dante Alighieri wrote a similar adage in his narrative poem The Divine Comedy: "amor sementa in voi d'ogne virtute/e d'ogni operazion che merta pene" ("love is the seed in you of every virtue/and of all acts deserving punishment").^[3] In one form or another, the saying dates back to the 14th century, if not to antiquity, with a bitter disillusionment redolent of the Book of Job.^{[citation needed]}

The phrase has been quoted by authors such as Brendan Gill in his 1950 novel The Trouble of One House.^[4] It is also featured prominently in the song No Good Deed, from the 2003 hit Broadway musical Wicked.^[5] A satirical poem by Franklin Pierce Adams with the title "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (So Shines a Good Deed in a Naughty World)" also exists.^[6]

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