Many years ago my dad fell seriously ill and went into the hospital. As he neared the time of discharge, my brother Bob bought Dad a huge TV to welcome him home. The delivery people declined to carry the TV upstairs, saying it was so heavy that they needed more guys to help them. They said they would return right after the weekend. However, Dad was coming home that weekend, and my brother wanted to surprise him with the TV in place and operating. 

So my brother cajoled me into helping him do the lifting. There was enough room for one person above and one person below the TV. I chose above because I thought that would be safer. I was wrong. We lifted one step at a time. The twisting movement I made as I lifted injured something in my back that has caused me trouble off and on for decades. My conclusion: No good deed goes unpunished. 

Later I met a psychologist while playing sports. She told me that she had taken an abused girl into her home to live with her, and the girl had stolen from the psychologist emotionally precious jewelry that her mother had left her. The psychologist never saw the jewelry again. My conclusion: No good deed goes unpunished.

A few years ago one of my teaching assistants, while on an early-morning drive with two friends, collided with a kangaroo. The three women wrapped the injured and dazed roo in a coat and started to transport it to an animal rescue person. While on the way, the roo came to life and started thrashing. The roo kicked the driver, bled all over the interior of the car and cracked a window before being released. A good deed gone awry.

Recently I watched a brave friend of mine donate whole blood for the first time, helping to save the life of individuals she will never meet. She donated quickly and looked solid as she ate one of the delicious treats for donors. Then her blood pressure dropped, she became faint, and she vomited.

You may have your own examples of “No good deed goes unpunished.”

The “No good deeds” idea seems true to us because we have a evolutionary bias toward paying attention to harmful events.  Those are events from which we must learn if we want to survive. We ignore our many good deeds that do not lead to harm.

For instance, this past week I donated blood plasma. At work, I advised a psychology graduate about how to reach her career goal, and I reviewed a manuscript on cannabis concentrates for a research journal. No disasters in any of that.

The truth is that actions tend to have risks, whether we have prosocial intentions or not. There is no justice of the universe that prevents us from experiencing ruin when we act out of kindness. Some individuals drown while trying to save another person who is going under. The risks of doing good deeds help make the deeds admirable.