- English translation
Whoever works to bring about a good deed shares the merit of the one who performs it.
- Literal wording
The one who strives in the good is like the one who does it.
- Meaning and lesson
The saying holds that effort spent on behalf of a good deed earns the same credit as performing it. Someone who works toward a kind act, urges it on, or helps make it happen stands on equal footing with the person who carries it out. A variant opening with 'the one who hastens' carries the same sense.
The key word can point to a person who personally strives for good or to an intermediary who goes about arranging it for others. Either way, the proverb affirms that intention and effort count, and that facilitating goodness deserves recognition alongside the act itself.
- When it is used
Suitable for thanking or encouraging someone who helped arrange, promote, or push forward a kindness, such as a mediator, organizer, or messenger, even when someone else carried out the deed itself.
Cite or copy proverb
How this record reached us: Editorially sourced.
Report an issue with this meaning: Whoever works to bring about a good deed shares the merit of the one who performs it.