The road to hell is paved with good intentions

The road to hell is paved with good intentions is a proverb or aphorism. An alternative form is "Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works".[1]

This article is about the proverb/aphorism. For the 2009 song by In Fear and Faith, see The Road to Hell Is Paved with Good Intentions (song).

Origin

The exact origin of this proverb is unknown and its form has evolved over time. The modern expression, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions", was first published in Henry G. Bohn's A Hand-book of Proverbs in 1855.[2] An earlier iteration, "Hell is full of good meanings and wishes", was published in 1670 in A Collection of English Proverbs collected by John Ray.[3]

In Zefferelli's 1968 adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, the character Mercutio says, "The best intentions pave the way to Hell," a line which does not appear in the play.

The earliest known text resembling this phrase occurs in Virgil's Aeneid: "facilis descensus Averno (the descent to hell is easy)".[4]

A biblical resemblance can be found in Ecclesiasticus 21:10, "The way of sinners is made plain with stones, but at the end thereof is the pit of hell."[5] The proverb is commonly misattributed to Bernard of Clairvaux who supposedly wrote (c. 1150), "L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs" (hell is full of good wishes or desires).[6] This citation was made in 1640, some five hundred years after his death, and this text has not been found in any of his published works.

Another resemblance also can be found in one Hadith that Muhammad said: "Paradise is surrounded by hardships, and the Fire is surrounded by desires."

John Foxe quotes Tyndale as writing "Beware of good intents." (The second part of "Chapter 213" of Acts and Monuments cites "Fol. 87" of "The Wicked Mammon".)

Meaning

A common meaning of the phrase is that individuals may have the intention to undertake good actions but nevertheless fail to take action.[7][8] This inaction may be due to procrastination, laziness or other subversive vice.[9] As such, the saying is an admonishment that a good intention is meaningless unless followed through.[10]

A different interpretation of the saying is that wrongdoings or evil actions are often undertaken with good intentions; or that good intentions, when acted upon, may have unintended consequences. An example is the introduction of invasive species, like the Asian carp introduced into the US, which has become a nuisance due to unexpected proliferation and behaviour.[11]

Studies

Psychological studies of the effect of intention upon task completion by professors Peter Gollwitzer, Paschal Sheeran and Sheina Orbell indicate that there is some truth in the proverb.[12] Perfectionists are especially prone to having their intentions backfire in this way.[13] Some[14] have argued that people are more likely to interpret their own actions as more well intended than the actions of others.

Attempts to improve the ethical behaviour of groups are often counter-productive. If legislation is used for such an attempt, people observe the letter of the law rather than improve the desired behaviour. During negotiation, groups that are encouraged to understand the point of view of the other parties are worse at this than those whose perspective is not enlightened. The threat of punishment may make behavior less rather than more ethical.[15] Studies of business ethics indicate that most wrongdoing is not due directly to wickedness but is performed by people who did not plan to err.[16]

Stephen Garrard Post, writing about altruism, suggests that good intentions are often not what they seem and that mankind normally acts from less worthy, selfish motives—"If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, it is partly because that is the road they generally start out on."[17]

Artistic references

Authors who have used the phrase include Charlotte Brontë, Lord Byron, Randy Travis, Samuel Johnson,[18] Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Walter Scott,[19] Søren Kierkegaard,[20] and Karl Marx.[21] Ozzy Osbourne used the term in the song "Tonight" on his album Diary of a Madman.

In the movie Highway to Hell, the phrase is taken literally to create one particular scene. The Good Intentions Paving Company has a team of Andy Warhols who grind good-intentioned souls into pavement. "I was only sleeping with my husband's boss to advance his career", says one.[22] The figurative meaning of the phrase is a big part of the plot too, as several characters offer help the two protagonists on the Road to Hell, but all of them have ulterior motives.

In the Discworld novel Eric by Terry Pratchett, as the Wizard Rincewind and teenaged demonologist Eric Thursley escape Pandemonium, they notice that the individual cobbles on the Road on Hell have good intentions written on them. These included "for the good of the kids", "I meant it for the best" and "we are equal opportunities employers".

Pink used the phrase in her 2006 song "Dear Mr. President" to refer to the No Child Left Behind Act.

Madonna uses this line in her 2008 single "4 Minutes," featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, off her eleventh studio album Hard Candy.[23]

The Chainsmokers utilize this phrase in their song "Good Intentions" featuring BullySongs

The phrase is used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "In the Pale Moonlight".

The phrase is also used by Lauryn Hill in Mr. Intentional

The phrase is also used in the 2020 "Living the Dream" by Five Finger Death Punch on their F8 album.

A similar phrase, "our best intentions pave the way to hell", was used in 2013 film Romeo & Juliet by Mercutio after he was stabbed by Tybalt.

This phrase was used in Jurassic Park 3 when Billy steals the raptor eggs to fund his University Department.

The phrase was alluded to in both the title and lyrical poetry in Joanna Newsom's track "Good Intentions Paving Co." on the 2010 album Have One on Me.

See also

References
  1. "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions", Proverbs, Infobase Publishing, 2007, p. 234, ISBN 9780816066735
  2. Bohn, Henry (1855), A Hand-book of Proverbs
  3. Ray, John (1670), A Collection of English Proverbs
  4. Mawr, Mrs E. B. (1885), "Hell is paved with good intentions", Analogous Proverbs In Ten Languages, Elliot Stock
  5. King James Bible
  6. Ammer, Christine (1997), The American Heritage dictionary of idioms, ISBN 9780395727744
  7. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Third ed.). Dictionary.com/Houghton Mifflin Company. 2005. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  8. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus (Third ed.). Dictionary.cambridge.org/Cambridge University Press. 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
  9. Collis, Harry; Risso, Mario (1992), "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions", 101 American English proverbs: understanding language and culture through commonly used sayings, Lincolnwood, Ill: Passport Books, ISBN 9780844254128
  10. Bowden, Charles L., editor; Burstein, Alvin George, editor (1983). Psychosocial Basis of Health Care. Williams & Wilkins. p. 98. ISBN 0-683-00993-1.
  11. Kalman, Izzy (August 16, 2010), "Principle Number One: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions", Psychology Today, Resilience to Bullying
  12. Gollwitzer, Peter; Sheeran, Paschal (2006-05-30), "Implementation intentions and goal achievement", Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, ISBN 9780120152384
  13. Powers, T. A. (2005), "Implementation Intentions, Perfectionism, and Goal Progress: Perhaps the Road to Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions", Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31 (7): 902–912, doi:10.1177/0146167204272311, PMID 15951362
  14. Kruger, Justin; Gilovich, Thomas (2004), "Actions, Intentions, and Self-Assessment: The Road to Self-Enhancement Is Paved with Good Intentions", Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30 (3): 328–339, doi:10.1177/0146167203259932, PMID 15030624
  15. Messick, David (2006-07-11), "The Road to Hell", Ethics in groups, 8, pp. 273–274, ISBN 9780762313006
  16. Nash, Laura L. (1993), Good intentions aside: a manager's guide to resolving ethical problems, ISBN 9780875844299
  17. Post, Stephen Garrard (2002), Altruism & altruistic love, Oxford University Press, p. 203, ISBN 9780195143584
  18. "Hell is paved with good intentions." April 14, 1775 Boswell, James (1791). Life of Samuel Johnson. II.
  19. Pell, Robert Conger (1857), Milledulcia, p. 89
  20. Kierkegaard, Soren. (2013), Kierkegaard's Writings, XVI: Works of Love, Princeton University Press, p. 94, ISBN 9781400847013
  21. Marx, Karl. "Seven, Section 2". Das Kapital The Production of Surplus-Value — Der weg zur Hölle ist jedoch mit guten Absichten. One. Retrieved February 25, 2014.
  22. Muir, John Kenneth (2011), Horror Films of the 1990s, McFarland, p. 236, ISBN 9780786440122
  23. Madonna (Ft. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland) – 4 Minutes, retrieved 2017-07-20
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