the road to hell is paved with good intentions

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proverb

the road to hell is paved with good intentions

1. Well-intended acts can potentially lead to disasters.
   • 2023 September 7, Hans von der Burchard, “How heat pumps exploded Germany’s ruling coalition”, in POLITICO‎^[1]:

     The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Or so many politicians in Germany’s three-party ruling coalition are now discovering.

Synonyms

• hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works

Derived terms

• pave the road to hell

Translations

well-intended acts can lead to disasters

• Arabic: الطَّرِيق إلَى الْجَهَنَّم مُمَهَّد بِالنَّوَايَا الْحَسَنَة (aṭ-ṭarīq ʔilā l-jahannam mumahhad bi-n-nawāyā l-ḥasana)
• Bulgarian: пътят към ада е покрит с добри намерения (pǎtjat kǎm ada e pokrit s dobri namerenija)
• Catalan: l'infern està ple de bones intencions
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 好心沒好報／好心没好报 (zh) (hǎoxīn méi hǎobào)

• Czech: cesta do pekla je dlážděna dobrými úmysly (cs), cesta do pekel je dlážděna dobrými úmysly, cesta do pekla je vydlážděna samými dobrými úmysly (cs), cesta do pekla je vydlážděna dobrými úmysly
• Danish: vejen til helvede er brolagt med gode hensigter, vejen til helvede er brolagt med gode intentioner, vejen til helvede er brolagt med gode forsætter
• Dutch: de weg naar de hel is geplaveid met goede voornemens
• Esperanto: per promesoj estas pavimita la infero
• Finnish: tie helvettiin on kivetty hyvillä aikomuksilla
• French: l’enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions (fr)
• German: der Weg zur Hölle ist mit guten Vorsätzen gepflastert
• Hebrew: הַדֶּרֶךְ לַגֵּיהִנּוֹם רְצוּפָה כַּוָּנוֹת טוֹבוֹת (hadérekh lagehenóm r'tzufáh kavanót tovót)
• Hungarian: a pokolba vezető út jószándékkal van kikövezve (hu)
• Italian: la strada per l'inferno è lastricata di buone intenzioni, di buone intenzioni è lastricata la via per l'inferno, di buone intenzioni è lastricato l'inferno
• Japanese: 地獄への道は善意で舗装されている (ja) (jigoku e no michi wa zen'i de hosō sarete iru)
• Korean: 지옥 길은 선의로 포장되어 있다 (jiok gireun seonuiro pojangdoeeo itda)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: veien til helvete er brolagt med gode intensjoner

• Polish: dobrymi chęciami jest piekło wybrukowane (pl)
• Portuguese: de boas intenções está o inferno cheio, de boas intenções o inferno está cheio, de boas intenções está cheio o inferno, o inferno está cheio de boas intenções
• Romanian: drumul spre iad este pavat cu bune intenții
• Russian: благи́ми наме́ре́ниями вы́мощена доро́га в ад (ru) (blagími namérénijami výmoščena doróga v ad)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пу̑т до̏ пакла поплочан је добрим намјерама

  Roman: pȗt dȍ pakla popločan je dobrim namjerama

• Spanish: el infierno está lleno de buenas intenciones, el camino al infierno está empedrado de buenas intenciones, el infierno está empedrado de buenas intenciones
• Swedish: vägen till helvetet är kantad av goda föresatser, vägen till helvetet är stensatt med goda föresatser
• Turkish: cehenneme giden yol iyi niyet taşlarıyla döşelidir
• Ukrainian: дорога в пекло викладена добрими намірами (doroha v peklo vykladena dobrymy namiramy)
• Vietnamese: đường đến địa ngục được lát bằng thiện tâm

See also

• woulda, coulda, shoulda

Further reading

• Jennifer Speake, editor (2015), “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, in Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, 6th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 267.