The road to hell is paved with good intentions facts for kids
The saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" is an idiom, which is a phrase where the words together mean something different from their individual meanings. This proverb means that simply intending to do good things isn't enough. If you have good plans but don't follow through, or if your good plans accidentally lead to bad results, then those good intentions didn't help. It's like saying that even if you mean well, things can still go wrong if you're not careful about your actions.
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Where Did This Saying Come From?
This famous saying has been around for a very long time.
Early Mentions of the Idea
Around the middle of the 1100s, a French monk named Bernard of Clairvaux wrote something similar in Latin. He said, "L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés et désirs" which means "hell is full of good wishes and desires." This idea, that good intentions don't always lead to good outcomes, has been repeated in many different languages and situations over the centuries.
Samuel Johnson's Version
Later, in 1775, a famous English writer named Samuel Johnson talked about how people sometimes fail to keep their good promises. He is reported to have said, "Sir, hell is paved with good intentions." This is very close to the way we say the proverb today.
Examples of the Saying in Use
Many writers and thinkers have used this proverb to explain how good plans can go wrong.
- 1631: The poet George Herbert wrote in his collection of wise sayings, "Hell is full of good meanings and wishings." This shows the idea was common even then.
- 1942: The author C. S. Lewis explained the idea in his book The Screwtape Letters. He wrote, "The safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” He meant that small, seemingly harmless choices, even if made with good intentions, can slowly lead to bad results.
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