Lots of good-deed doers earned honors under a blinding early evening sun outside Arte Americas on Oct. 2.

Judges who helped troubled kids through the juvenile justice system and lawyers and their clients -- some of Fresno's homeless -- who won a landmark settlement vs. Fresno City were among those receiving Champions of Justice awards at an annual Central California Legal Services event.

For me, one honoree encouraged the 175 or so in the audience with a simple synopsis of his life and philosophy.

I came to the U.S. with $300 in my pocket, said Dr. Prahalad Jajodia, a gastroenterologist who practices at Community Medical Centers and Sequoia Community Health Centers.

I worked hard -- for principles, to care for the needy, not to accumulate belongings -- because after I'm gone it's my principles I hope that will be remembered.

Those are paraphrases -- I wasn't taking notes -- as Jajodia thanked Community and others for caring for the needy. Calm, deliberate and without notes, he cited two obstacles to doing the right thing -- fear and ego.

He defined fear as "False Evidence Appearing as Real" and ego as "Edging God Out of our hearts."

Not exactly anybody's campaign slogan. Not a bad way, though, to encounter daily life.