quote · Words worth keeping
Hell is paved with good intentions.
Hell is paved with good intentions.
Approximate author period: c. 1746 AD · early modern
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Wanting to do good is not enough: careless action, unintended consequences or repeated failure to act can still produce a bad result.
What the words are saying
The road represents a course of action and the paving stones represent the intentions behind it. Even if each intention sounds admirable, the path can end badly when no one examines what the actions actually do. The phrase can criticize well-meant but harmful interference, or someone who keeps meaning to help without ever doing so. These uses share the same distinction between a person's motive and the result. A good motive matters, but it does not guarantee a good method or outcome.
Everyday example
A manager tries to help a struggling colleague by taking over every task. The colleague loses the opportunity to practise and becomes more dependent, despite the manager's original intention to support them.
When to use it
Use it when the sincerity of an intention is being treated as a complete answer to concerns about the actual effects.
What it does not mean
The saying does not imply that bad intentions are preferable or that every unforeseen problem makes the person malicious.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Samuel Johnson
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1746 AD · early modern
author lifetime midpoint
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Familiar Quotations, ninth edition (1905 printing) (1905 AD)
Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. v. Chap. ix.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.