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intention

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with the best of intentions

Aiming for a good or positive outcome. Often said after something has gone wrong. Although I planned the family reunion with the best intentions, it turned into hours of fighting between relatives.

See also: intention, of

road to hell is paved with good intentions

Prov. People often mean well but do bad things. (Can be a strong rebuke, implying that the person you are addressing did something bad and his or her good intentions do not matter.) Jane: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings; I only wanted to help you. Jane: Oh, yeah? The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

See also: good, hell, intention, pave, road

with a view to doing something

 and with an eye to doing something

with the intention of doing something. I came to this school with a view to getting a degree. The mayor took office with an eye to improving the town.

See also: view

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

something that you say which means people often intend to do good things but much of the time, they do not make the effort to do those things 'I kept meaning to visit her but I didn't get round to it.' 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.'

See also: good, hell, intention, pave, road

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