Doing Good

Οὐκ ἐστιν, ᾦ φίλη κεφαλὴ, ἐν παραβύστῳ καὶ ἀποκρύφῳ κείμενος ὁ τοῦ Κυρίου νόμος, Μὴ γνώτω ἡ ἀριστερά σου τί ποιεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου, κελεύοντος, ἀλλὰ λευκὸς καὶ σαφέστατος, καὶ τοῖς προσόχοις ἀρίδηλος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τῷ εὖ ποιεῖν κενοδοξία παρέπεται καὶ ἐπίδειξις, Μηδὲν, φησὶ, καλὸν γινὲσθω παρὰ σοῦ ἐμπαθως, μηδὲ πέρπερος λογισμος ἀκολουθείτω τῷ κατορθώματι· ἀλλ' εἰ εὖ ποιεῖς, ἀνεπίδεικτος ἔσο καὶ ἄκομπος, τοὺς ἐνταῦθα κρότους μὴ θηρῶν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μέλλοντας στεφάνους προσδοκῶν.  Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΠΕ', Λεοντιῳ Επισκοπῳ

It is not, dear friend, lying hidden in some corner, this law of the Lord, 'Let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing,'1 but the meaning is clear and most evident to those who are attentive. For when vainglory accompanies action and it is overt in well doing, nothing, I say, is well done, nor does thought come to improvement, but if you would do well, be undemonstrative and boastless, not hunting for applause but waiting for the future crown. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 84, to the Bishop Leontios 1. Mt 6.3