"He’s all the time makin’ it up to somebody – givin’ kids stuff, droppin’ a sack a meal on somebody’s porch. Give away about ever’thing he got, an’ still he ain’t very happy."
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 8. Tom Joad explains to Jim Casy why his Uncle John is so unhappy. He neglected to call a doctor for his wife’s stomach ache and she died of a burst apprendix the next day. Ever since Uncle John has been trying to atone for his "sin" with acts of kindness to others.