“It’s much better to do good in a way that no one knows anything about it”
Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy
Good deeds shall never be traded
for your fame or your glory;
it’s grifting with gifts
and almost as selfish as doing nothing.
Remember the guilt felt by the needy
for having to live at your mercy,
cause even if they curtsey or bow;
it will never turn you divine.
Instead wrap your gifts
in anonymous brown
and leave them unmarked
to simply be found
and maybe be given on.
Today Melissa is hosting dVerse Poetics with a prompt to use a few given quotes by Lev Tolstoy who was born on September 9, 1828
September 9, 2025
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Ooh, I almost chose that quotation, Björn! Glad I didn’t, your anonymous brown poem is so inspired. I think everyone should try leaving unmarked gifts to be found and maybe given on.
Yes… I have never liked to be thanked for a gift… leave the receiver free of guilt.
I enjoyed this poem, but that last stanza says it all! (…”in anonymous brown.”) What a lovely description!
Don’t make a fuzz about giving…
“and almost as selfish as doing nothing.” This stands out to me. Though doing nothing might be better in the case of buying people’s affection.
Powerful wisdom Björn:
“…even if they curtsey or bow;
it will never turn you divine.”
I love the idea that the guilt of the needy will never turn the individual divine. I hope I am representing your second stanza correctly. The reaction of the needy to our charity or lack there of is not what matters. Is what we are doing ourselves that makes the difference. Your third stanza caps off with the idea then that we should be anonymous, for He who would make us divine knows our acts public and private. And for those who do not believe, we ourselves know of our own acts and the dirt on our hands. Thank you for your poem.
Yes.. I think this way of thinking works with or without a God… it is the trading of gratitude which I think represent hubris
Absolutely
A nice take on the prompt, Bjorn. Good advice!
what a beautiful message
much♡love
I love the image and idea of packaging a gift for someone else to find – perhaps they fall into the hands of those who are meant to find it – Jae
That is what I hope…. anonymous gifts are great.
Matthew 6:3 NKJV
[3] But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
[4] that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
What you have written reminded me of Jesus’ words.
Yes, very much a Christian view… unfortunately too many Christians has forgotten this part.
You are right!
Years ago I was young and bored, trying to sleep overnight in a motorway services station in the UK with nothing to do except smoke cigarettes. I was bored, delirious and sick of smoking. I found a pen and wrote messages on the cigarettes, leaving them for other people to find.
Maybe not the best gift in retrospect but I did repeat this idea with better gifts over the years since.
I think it would be great for someone to find.
Beautiful
Many of my kindnesses, which I consider gifts, have been wrapped in the brown paper you speak of. How I feel inside is most important … not praise for what I believe is the right thing to do. Your poem is a beautiful expression of my thoughts.
A hearty yes to the import of this Bjorn, just imagine if we all did just that.