Do Good

Do Good

“Not much thanks in this world when you do a kindly action,” grumbled a disciple. “They at once try to find something wrong with it, and if they can’t find something wrong with it, they find something wrong with you. Seems to make them feel better somehow.”
“I heard a good saying in one of the devotional schools,” remarked a senior. “Apparently their teacher used to say: ‘Do good, and be abused.’ But he told them that the resistance and abuse against good deeds was like the bow-wave when a ship is moving forward strongly; in a way it is a confirmation, and should not be resented too much.”
“Yes, I know, I know. It’s all very clever and elevating, but the fact is that when spiteful things are actually being said, when a well-meant action is deliberately twisted to seem self-seeking—it’s a bit different then. I haven’t got the patience to listen to all that venomous stuff.”
“We have the saying in our own school: Do Good and Go. They tell us not to hang about, either for praise or blame.”
“Still, one’s bound to hear something even as one goes … and one remark can be as wounding as twenty.”
“Well, I suppose in your case we’ll have to amend the saying. Try this then: Do Good and Run!”