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 being helpful.

It has been attributed to several luminaries, including Billy Wilder,[1] writer Clare Booth Luce, American financier John P. Grier, banker Andrew W. Mellon,[2] and Oscar Wilde, although its actual origin has never been established. The phrase appears in Brendan Gill's 1950 book The Trouble of One House.[3] The phrase is featured prominently in the song "No Good Deed" from the hit Broadway musical Wicked.[4] 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.

In the fictional Star Trek universe, the 285th Rule of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition states that "No good deed ever goes unpunished.". More recently, in the Star Trek: Picard episode "Nepenthe," Riker reminds Picard of the phrase, describing it as "Newton's fourth law of thermodynamics."

The phrase appears in the 3rd line of the song "Crumblin' Down" sung by John Mellencamp, released October 1983. It is cited as a proverb and is the premise behind No Good Deed, a novel by John Niven, published 2017.