Good intentions lead to hell. What does the saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” mean?

A person lives for himself, tries not to do anything reprehensible in life, for which he would be ashamed. But, if possible, he strives to do more good deeds. And not to check a box so that in the next world (if there really is one) you can get a “credit”, but out of your sincere desire. Time passes, but for some reason the good comes out sideways. And then he begins to realize: indeed, good intentions The road to hell is paved...

And the point here is not at all about human ingratitude and not about the fact that justice does not exist, it’s just that the world is imperfect. The reason is in the person himself, who naively believes that he does good deeds.

Is pity a good feeling or a bad one? It would seem that compassion helps humanity survive. But it’s not for nothing that they say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Or maybe humanism also helps the human race to degrade?

Are you familiar with the situation when a parent’s darling grows up to be a person unadapted to life? He doesn’t seem to notice that the “childhood holiday” is long over and it’s time to get down to business. In order for the “continuation of the banquet” to last, he needs easy money... Who is to blame for this? Can parental love really lead to imprisonment for their beloved child? Maybe! They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

What should the wife of an alcoholic do? He doesn’t give a living, he drinks all his money, and he also started taking things out of the house. And growing children need decent clothes, we don’t live in post-war times... But it’s a pity for him, he’ll completely disappear... So it happens again: the road to hell is paved with good intentions - the whole family walks along it!

What happens when gopniks beat up a teenage musician in a back alley? Is this bad? Without a doubt. But the boy, despite being busy, is also in sports section signed up. I grew up to be a strong and confident person. He will remember that cruel lesson all his life, though without much anger, because that incident even helped him in some way.

Can we say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the road to heaven with bad intentions? Look, the conclusion suggests itself, but this is a mistake! Such a judgment will justify bullying and cruelty, and will untie the hands of nonhumans... Moreover, the scale of delusions can be global. Remember the recent past: they wanted to enrich the peoples of the earth with culture, but they ended up with fascism. By the way, Hitler painted some good pictures as a child, and if he had still been accepted into art school, maybe there wouldn’t have been a hyper-ambitious politician, and the tyrant would have realized himself differently?

Where is the justice? How can a simple person understand little man, what to do? But the truth is right in the middle. Neither extreme leads to good. There should be everything in a person’s life, but in moderation. Both love and severity. Then only harmony is possible. Reckless love does not increase goodness at all, but gives rise to idleness and evil. Excessive severity will lead to cruelty and violence.

To ensure that the road to hell is not paved with good intentions, you need to raise your children correctly. What is the relationship? Let's figure it out.

We all come from childhood. Whether the person we see or think about is bad or good, he was shaped by the environment and events of long-forgotten days. The future of children, of course, is in the hands of their parents. It depends on their worldview and objective understanding of life. It also depends on whether they understand that it is impossible to live autonomously in human society. If we turn a blind eye to the misfortune of others now, our children, when they become adults, will face this unsolved problem, manifested as the cruelty of the outside world.

Where does the expression “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” come from? Is it true?

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:

This expression is now a proverb. Its closest source is the two-volume memoir-biographical book by James Boswell (1740-1795), “Life of Samuel Johnson,” published in 1791. The author claims that S. Johnson (Johnson; 1709-1784) said in 1775: “Hell is paved with good intentions.” good intentions" The only difference is that the proverb talks about the road to hell, and S. Johnson talks about hell itself. Apparently, the author of the aphorism - an English critic, lexicographer, essayist and poet - relied on a saying made earlier by the Anglican priest and metaphysical poet George Herbert (Herbert; 1593-1633) in the book “Jacula prudentium” (Latin: “Witticisms of the Wise Men”) "): "Hell is full of good meanings and wishes" - "Hell is full of good intentions and desires."

All three statements have in common general idea that desires and intentions alone are not enough for salvation. This is entirely consistent with patristic teaching. First of all, you must have faith: “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). According to St. Ephraim the Syrian, “without oil the lamp will not burn; and without faith no one acquires a good thought.” There were so many utopias, radical movements, revolutionary programs, etc. in the world, the leaders and participants of which, without God and against God, relying on their fallen minds, wanted to bring “happiness” to humanity. History keeps a sad and tragic memory of this. Likewise, an individual person who is in the blindness of unbelief, wanting to fulfill his intentions, which seem good to him, often causes evil and pain to others.

Faith is necessary, but it must be correct. There can be many mistakes and misconceptions, but the truth is always one. People who are carried away by erroneous religious teachings are sure that they have good intentions, but the false spirituality in which they find themselves leads them to destruction. All religious substitutions are carried out with the participation of demonic forces.

St. John Chrysostom says: “Faith is like a strong rod and a safe harbor, delivering from errors of judgment and calming the soul in great silence.” However, the same ecumenical teacher warns: “Let us not consider faith alone to be sufficient for our salvation, but we will also take care of behavior, we will lead and best life so that both will contribute to us achieving perfection.” The Holy Fathers persistently emphasize that a Christian must have a spiritually enlightened mind. Without it, dangerous errors can occur. St. Anthony the Great considered reasoning to be the main virtue of a Christian:

“Reflection is the eye of the soul and its lamp, just as the eye is the lamp of the body; so if this eye is light, then the whole body (of our deeds) will be light, but if this eye is dark, then the whole body will be dark, as the Lord said in the Holy Gospel (see: Matt. 6: 22-23 ). By reasoning, a person sorts out his desires, words and deeds and retreats from all those that remove him from God. Through reasoning, he thwarts and destroys all the machinations of the enemy directed against him, correctly distinguishing between what is good and what is bad.”

Among the mass of popular phraseological combinations, there are those in which deep folk or philosophical wisdom is hidden. Their use in speech often seems ambiguous and can cause intellectual debate. Some catchphrases and expressions of this type can even have several sound variations, but at the same time retain the same meaning. We will consider one of these phraseological units in this article. Let's find out its meaning and origin. We will also look at how this phrase is used.

Expression value

I have heard the most unexpected interpretations of the phrase about good intentions paving the road to hell. The closest to the true meaning is a point of view of this kind: some person is constantly planning to do something useful, kind, but things don’t go beyond these intentions - either there is no time, then there is no opportunity, then the turnover becomes boring. So these plans remain plans, that is, they turn into undone good deeds. Each of them is a cobblestone in the said pavement leading to hell. Because if the intended good deeds are not done, space appears for evil deeds, that is, for sin.

Often, good-natured plans may not at all relate to any specific matter in relation to another person - to help, look after, protect, but simply to become better yourself. These intentions are usually the most difficult to achieve. That is, you need to not intend to do it, but do it.

The phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is used in the case when, trying to carry out some completely humane thing, a person achieves the completely opposite result, often with negative consequences.

Expression Variations

The Russian language, like a living being, reacts sensitively to all sorts of changes and additions: words and their meanings change, familiar phraseological units begin to sound differently, then acquiring new meaning, then maintaining the content, but “dressing” in a new verbal form.

Authors catchphrases, perhaps, do not claim such a title, having once uttered a phrase that will be famous in the future. Thus, a phrase about good intentions, leaving them and their “ultimate goal” in its composition, sometimes changes the verb form. Then the expression might sound like this: the road to hell is paved, paved, paved. This does not change the meaning.

The road to hell and the path to it can be paved or paved with these intentions, or hell is already paved with them.

There are also interesting variations. One of them sounds something like this: “From good intentions (good intentions) the path straight to hell.”

Origin of the phrase and its variants

The history of catchphrases quite often refers us to different sources. So, according to one version, the phrase about good intentions goes back to the saying of the English writer Samuel Johnson, who once said: “Hell is paved with good intentions.” This is mentioned by his biographer, author of two-volume memoirs about the writer James Boswell.

However, there is another point of view, which attributes the origin of this expression to the 17th century Anglican priest and metaphysical poet George Herbert, for whom it sounds like this: “Hell is full of good intentions and desires.” This quote seems to emphasize the meaning of the Bible saying contained in the Book of Jesus. It says: “The path of sinners is paved with stones, but at the end of it is the pit of hell.”

The second assumption is considered the most likely, since the author seems to illustrate with this phrase one of the main points of Protestant ethics. Its essence is that true faith certainly leads to the creation of good deeds, and not dreams of them.

Use of expression

The phraseology “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is quite often used not only in literature and journalism, but also in colloquial speech. You can also hear an abbreviated, “proverbial” version of it: “with good intentions,” which implies the same ending with the same meaning.

As observations have shown, in the first, biblical sense, the expression is used no less often than in the “everyday” sense. In the first case, the emphasis is on the fact that, according to the Apostle James, faith without works is dead, that is, unfulfilled intentions, no matter how good they may be, are the result of weak faith and block the road to salvation.

This point of view seems very attractive and quite justified. This phrase is missing the word “unfulfilled”, which should come before the word “intentions”.

And in everyday life The opinion that when you raise a child, you try to do everything possible and impossible for him is eloquent. With the best intentions. And it can grow completely unworthy person. Therefore, before trying to do something “good”, it would not be a bad idea to figure out what is truly good for this or that person.

Synonyms

There is an interesting phenomenon regarding the phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” A fairly ancient saying, and even having a religious connotation, unexpectedly acquired a synonym in the 20th century in connection with economic problems in Russia.

“We wanted the best, but it turned out as always” - this expression of V. S. Chernomyrdin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation, has acquired a synonymous meaning of the phrase about good intentions in the sense that implies a desire to do a good deed, but its result turns out to be completely opposite to what was expected . IN in this context the talk was about characterizing the progress of monetary reform in the country in 1993. The phrase soon became truly popular and is often used instead of “good intentions.”

Conclusion

Catchphrases and expressions are born in the depths of life. The history of mankind is rich in many examples when seemingly good intentions led not only to opposite results, but also to tragedies. How many utopian ideas were invented, revolutionary programs were developed, parties were organized, some radical movements were carried out supposedly to improve everyone’s life. And in the end there were Crusades, and Bolshevism, and fascism, designed to bring “happiness”, if not to all of humanity, then to the peoples or races “programmed” for it.

And from a theological point of view, the meaning of the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is that there are much more good intentions in life than the same deeds.

Road to hell

An example of what a good intention to make all people equal and free has become is the communist experiment in Russia, which cost it millions of victims

The origin of the phraseological unit “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”

— One of the primary sources is considered to be an expression from the Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach “” (21-11), although unlike ours it is straightforward: sinners have a “stone road to hell”
— The medieval theologian and canonized Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153) said L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs -
— The English poet and philosopher George Herbert (? - 1632) in his book “Astute Judgments” (“Jacula prudentium”, 1632) repeated the phrase of St. Bernard - Hell is full of good intentions or wishes ()
— English writer Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) paraphrased the thought of his predecessors - “Hell is paved with good intentions” (““)

Use of the expression in literature

*** « But it is in our power to get rid of them,” objected Bucklaw, “and I will definitely do this as soon as Lady Gernington dies.”
- Do you know the expression of the English theologian: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”? - Ravenswood noted. - Or, in other words: do we promise more often than we deliver?
“Okay,” Bucklo replied, “I’ll start from tonight.” I swear, don't drink more than a quart at a time, unless your Bordeaux turns out to be particularly tasty."(Walter Scott's "The Bride of Lemmermoor", ch. 7)

*** « I was weaned from art like a child from the breast...” He sighed. - But I’ll toss and turn and get there! - he said decisively. - Time has not passed, I’m not old yet...
Mark laughed again.
“No,” he said, “you won’t do it: where are you going!”
- Why do you know? You don't believe in intentions?..
— How not to believe: they say hell is paved with them"(I. Goncharov “Cliff”, part 2, chapter 15)

*** « The path of the commission, like the path to hell, is strewn with good intentions. The orderlies walk and, waving their arms, talk about uncleanliness, stench, proper measures and other cholera matters. The conversations are so smart that the police supervisor walking ahead of everyone suddenly becomes delighted..."(A. Chekhov “Appropriate measures”)
*** « We are sitting in a tent, although not only have we not reached the island, but, in all likelihood, we are even further away than we were yesterday. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”... The weather is foggy, at times wet snow, sometimes turning into rain"(V.I. Albanov “Diary”)

*** « Hell is paved with good intentions, and in in this case good intentions do not yet save from spontaneous attraction along the “line of least resistance”, along the line of the purely bourgeois program “Credo”(V.I. Lenin. What to do? Urgent issues of our movement)

*** « In general, guys, it’s better not to mess with the party, because the road to the CPSU Central Committee is paved with good intentions; This is what the grated kal Vaxon told his new young friends in 1978"(Vasily Aksenov “Mysterious Passion”)

Variants of the formula “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” (Wikipedia)

• The path to hell is paved with good intentions
• The road to hell is paved with good intentions
• Hell is paved with good intentions
• Fifteen years of hell, which is paved with good (good) intentions
• Good intentions lead straight to hell
• Hell is full of good intentions and heaven is full of good deeds

Previously, I could not understand what the phrase means - “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, I didn’t understand if they only want the best for you, how it could hurt. However, several life situations helped me understand more what it means.

For a long time I didn’t like the first floor of the house in which I used to live - a lot of inscriptions, peeling paint, some bad-smelling corners. Time after time I passed by all this obscenity and feelings rose in my soul: “Well, when will all this end?”

At a certain point, it dawned on me that this could continue for a long time until I did something about it myself. So I went and bought paint and brushes, inspired my wife and friends, and we started cleaning, washing and painting. Naturally, in the process of our work, residents passed by us quite often, since the house is multi-story. I thought the reaction would be something like this : “Well done! How can I help you? Well, finally, someone has taken up this matter! However, everything turned out to be exactly the opposite, people were upset because it smelled like paint, because they could get dirty, because the color we chose was only suitable for the toilet, and also because we weren’t going to paint the entire entrance. At the end of the work, one woman said: “Insolent people! You always do something formally, get paid for it, but nothing was even painted on my floor.” I didn’t understand why I was doing something on my own initiative, and it was clearly getting better, but instead of support and basic respect, I was met with indifference and condemnation? Why don’t my good intentions help people, but rather irritate them? On the one hand, of course, people thought that we were hired workers from the housing office and therefore made increased demands on our work, but on the other hand, there should be basic respect. After I calmed down, I realized that it is difficult to please everyone, because there are so many people, so many opinions. I think the most important thing I didn't do that I should have done is I didn't ask if what I wanted to do was necessary for other people. Even if it seems to me that this is good for them, they may think completely differently.

Sometimes it seems to us that we have good intentions and people will feel good from our initiative and care, but if they do not accept it, then it begins to seem to us that they are simply not grateful people. But it often turns out that other people simply do not need the benefit that we bring to them and they are upset that we decide something for them and do not give them a chance to decide their own destiny.

In Khabarovsk, my friends and I once decided to restore the broken and broken benches that were located behind our house and thought that it would be cool and people would have a place to sit. No sooner said than done: we bought the boards, took the tools, attracted volunteers, calculated everything, how to saw it off, what needed to be dug in, what needed to be screwed in and then painted. But it turned out that the residents were extremely dissatisfied with our action and, moreover, someone even deliberately broke these benches. The fact was that young people gathered on these benches at night, under the windows of the residents, they drank and cursed, and bawled songs half the night, not allowing them to sleep peacefully. Our good intention turned out to be of no use to anyone and even looked more like a “disservice.”

Often good intentions lead to hell, simply because in our desire to help, we try to do everything for another person, and he does not like this and is not at all useful. Or often guided by the golden rule of morality, we try to give a person what we would like to receive ourselves. But since everyone is different and everyone is unique, sometimes other people need completely different things than we do. So that good intentions do not lead to hell, you must, first of all, love people enough to understand what they need, and secondly, it is important to ask people how ready they are for change and listen to their opinion.