What if we stopped doing good in the world? What if we instead focused on doing no harm?

As I have seen more and more of the world, the truer the old adage “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” has turned out to be.

I realize now that many people do as much harm in trying to do good as others do in intentionally doing bad.

Many people start off with good intentions, wanting to save the world. And then they make one decision that is a little morally and ethically wrong, but they make that decision for the “greater good”. And then, over time, they make more and more such decisions, sacrificing the property, rights, wellbeing, and sometimes even lives of others, for the “greater good”. And soon they are doing more harm than any good their mission or purpose was initially meant to achieve.

And along this path of “greater good” they have lost their character, their humanity, their compassion, their humility, their original values. And once you have lost your humanity, once you think you are better than others, that your life and your work is worth more than other peoples’ lives and rights and possessions… Well, then you really can’t do much good for the world, can you? Then, you have become the same entitled, corrupt, “detached-from-the-problems-of-the-masses” person that you initially wanted to save us all from.

If you don’t believe me, look at all the politicians and business leaders around you who were first visionaries and rebels who came to change the world, to save us from ourselves…

So, let’s live our lives on the principle “Do No Harm” unto others. Maybe if we can ask ourselves this question before every action, every decision, “Does this action harm the property, rights, wellbeing or lives of other people?”, then maybe we will stop doing harm for any reason, and especially not for the “greater good”.

Maybe if we live our lives this way, the world may actually become a better place which no amount of our “doing good” would have achieved.

And maybe we will also stop being used by those who try to make us harm others for the “greater good”.