Thanks! I have been looking for exactly that quote for a while. I presume this is the origin of the paraphrase, "Evil sates itself, but Good is tireless in its ministrations"?

I hadn't heard that paraphrase, but it fits.

One problem with "doing good" is that it nurtures a very insidious form of Pride. To me the perfect example of this was the civil rights movement. It led to vast numbers of well-intentioned people becoming bullies, and to them feeling superior to the natives, and to congratulating themselves endlessly (non-stop to date).

And this Prideful bullying acted like an addictive drug, with every do-gooder campaign since becoming a clone of the "big moment." Example. (Not Catholic, despite appearances)

But to be punished, however severely, because we have deserved it, because we 'ought to have known better,' is to be treated as a human person made in God's image.

One of my happiest moments in the torment that was Basic Training was the day I got caught talking in line at the chow hall by the Drill Sergeant I respected the most. He told me to come see him when we got back from chow, and had me lunge-walk probably a quarter mile or so. After so many group punishments, it was refreshing to get smoked for something I had actually done. The pain was pennance, and it truly did feel like I was working off my guilt. I felt like an adult...

What the heck is an "Episcopal Franciscan"? Do they take vows of dating only every other Saturday?

The robber baron will only cut your fingers off if he sees a way to make a buck off them. The do-gooder will cut your fingers off because he has to do stuff to people or he doesn't exist.