road to hell is paved with good intentions, the
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
proverb Good intentions do not matter if a person's actions lead to bad outcomes. A: "I'm sorry, I was only trying to explain where Tom was coming from! I didn't mean to make matters worse." B: "Yeah, well, the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
See also: good, hell, intention, pave, road
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
road to hell is paved with good intentions, the
Well-intended acts can have disastrous results, as in She tried to help by defending Dad's position and they haven't spoken since-the road to hell is paved with good intentions . This proverbial idiom probably derives from a similar statement by St. Bernard of Clairvaux about 1150, L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs ("Hell is full of good intentions or wishes"), and has been repeated ever since. [Late 1500s]
See also: good, hell, pave, road
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
- teach a man to fish
- village
- it takes a village
- require
- desperate times call for desperate measures
- desperate times require desperate measures
- drastic
- drastic times call for drastic measures
- drastic times require drastic measures
- a good example is the best sermon