Who said the road to hell is paved with intentions

Another example commonly used when discussing this saying is the idea of becoming a soldier; the action is undertaken for the collective good of the country but can result in negative outcomes, from injury to post-traumatic stress disorder, for the individual. Here are some example sentences using the proverb the road to hell is paved with good intentions :.

Note: You may also sometimes see or hear the phrase as the path to hell is paved with good intentions. An alternative form of the proverb is hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works. But language historians have turned up some evidence and information. No saint, however, in the course of his religious warfare, was more sensible of the unhappy failure of pious resolves, than Johnson. Finally, the full proverb as we know and use it today was first published in Henry G.

However, to date, historians have not actually come across this text in any of St. There are similar sayings that express the different interpretations of the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

For example, the idiom actions speak louder than words means that what you do your actions is more significant and carries more weight than what you say your words.

By now, you know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions is both an idiom and a proverb. Here are just a few of the most common idioms used today:. His boss gave him the ax. As an idiom, it has a figurative meaning. A proverb is a short, common phrase or saying that imparts wisdom and advice or shares a universal truth. Synonyms of the term proverb include adage, aphorism, and maxim.

Here are some additional examples of well-known proverbs: Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Blood is thicker than water. A picture is worth a thousand words. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The common proverbial and idiomatic expression the road to hell is paved with good intentions can be interpreted in several different ways.

For example, one can intend to do good but never act on that intention. Or, a person can act in a way that they perceive as good but that ends up hurting someone else, often unintentionally. For the past 15 years, I've dedicated my career to words and language, as a writer, editor, and communications specialist and as a language arts educator. It points up the principle that there is no merit in good intentions unless they are acted on. The origin of almost all proverbs is shrouded by the mists of time.

Nevertheless, there is no shortage of claimants to the authorship of 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'. The expression is often attributed to the Cistercian abbot Saint Bernard of Clairvaux — The five hundred year gap and the fact that the text isn't found in the works of St Bernard suggests that we can discount Francis's account. Bernard myth, along comes a second. Bernard rescue dogs don't carry casks of brandy around their necks to give drinks to people who are stranded in snowdrifts.

That idea comes from a painting by the popular Victorian painter Sir Edwin Landseer. His painting Alpine Mastiffs Reanimating a Distressed Traveller shows such a scene and the image entered the public consciousness. However, Landseer made it up, it never happened. Back to the proverb. Early English versions don't refer to the road to hell or suggest that such a road was paved, but simply state that hell was filled with good intentions.

In more recent times there is always a mention of paving.