Among the mass of catchphrases, there are those that hide a deep philosophical meaning. Their use in colloquial speech can often cause intellectual debate. While maintaining the same meaning, some popular sayings can have several meanings. We will consider one of these expressions. Let's find out where it came from and what it means, as well as in what situations to use it.
The saying “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is considered a proverb today. The difference is that it has an author, and more than one. An expression similar to the one above was used by many authors in their works.
Where did the saying come from?
Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) recalls at least two people in whose works this phrase is present.
James Boswell, a writer who lived in the 18th century, cites a similar statement in one of his works. Even earlier, the English priest George Herbert said: “Hell is full of good intentions.” Both phrases are slightly different from the one in question. When we talk about the road to the underworld, we actually mean hell itself. However, an ordinary person is unlikely to perceive a significant semantic difference between the sayings.
Hieromonk Job deciphers in detail the famous statement, which is completely different from the philistine explanation. He argued that good intentions alone were not enough to please the Savior. Wishes will not connect us to the Lord. As a rule, intentions remain only desires that will never become reality. To please the Almighty, you must have unwavering faith. Only she is capable of leading a Christian through trials and thorns.
Expression value
There are a wide variety of interpretations of the statement about good intentions paving the road to the underworld. A person constantly intends to do something good, useful, but that’s where it all ends. There are always excuses: either there is no opportunity, or there is time, or everyday affairs are dragging on. So these intentions remain just plans, turning into imperfect good deeds. Each of them is a stone in the mentioned road leading to the underworld, since imperfect good intentions provide space for bad deeds, that is, for sin. This is perhaps the most correct interpretation of this catchphrase.
Often the plans do not concern the other person - to care for, help, protect, but the goal is to become better yourself. Such intentions are the most difficult to fulfill. A good deed does not need to be planned, but rather acted upon. The saying is used when, trying to do good, a person gets the completely opposite result, usually with negative consequences.
Read online “The Donkey and the Carrot”
Anna Strikovskaya
Donkey and carrot
® SamIzdat 2015
Prologue
Once upon a time, long ago, this world was inhabited by magical races: elves, dragons, demons... And then people came.
They didn’t have magic, they didn’t have long life, and they didn’t have much else compared to the ancient races. Only an indefatigable will to live and fertility. Elves, dragons and demons at first indifferently watched as people settled throughout the planet, occupying more and more new lands. Then they noticed that these funny little animals that were so similar to them could be wonderful bed toys. Then the first half-breeds were born.
The magical races treated them differently. The elves turned away with disgust; their illegitimate offspring were forced to live among people, both girls and boys. Dragons always took their daughters, and with their sons they waited to see if the child could turn around, and they took away those who had a second hypostasis to raise them as dragons; they were not interested in the rest. These others also lived among people. The demons took their sons: only boys inherited the appearance and properties of their race. Girls were born similar to their mothers and remained with them.
No one thought about one thing then: all these children received from their parents not only long life, but also the ability to perform magic.
The sons of elves and dragons became leaders of human clans and tribes, and over time they founded kingdoms and principalities. Their ability to accumulate magic and then transform it into the necessary spells delighted people deprived of such qualities and forced them to unconditionally recognize the primacy of those whom they called Mages. Mages learned to use their power, put it to their service, developed spells, and learned to create artifacts. This gave them enormous advantages, strength, which is the original source of power.
Under their protection, people multiplied even more. There were so many of them that they began to crowd out the original inhabitants. They first tried to fight, destroying people, but they themselves suffered huge losses. Weak people did not want to give up without a fight.
And then the ancient magical races retreated.
The demons were the first to leave the world. The elves and most of the dragons followed them. Only those who did not change their hypostasis remained, but they also settled in the mountains, where there was no way without wings.
The world is left to the people.
. At first it was ruled by majestic Mages, descendants of ancient races, sons of elves and dragons.
The daughters of demons disappeared into the human sea. They could not accumulate magic like the children of elves and dragons, so no one took them into account, and in vain. Very soon people learned that these women were given the power to control the magical flows of the world that they passed through themselves. When a girl became a girl, her abilities awakened. Already at this tender age, the young woman, not yet a witch, but a little witch, could boil water, heal a wound, or grow a flower with the power of desire. The first intimacy with a man became for her a moment of initiation, the opening of channels of power: from that moment on, she could fully use her gift. If everything went well, the next stage began: the formation of the gift. Several years had to pass before the channels of power stabilized and the witch turned into a full-fledged witch, capable of things that most magicians could only dream of.
The witches were also incredibly attractive. Few of them could boast of ideal beauty, but men were drawn to them like a magnet. Of course: to stabilize the channels, they needed love in its carnal manifestation, and the more, the better. Therefore, those girls who were unable to acquire a permanent partner in the form of a beloved husband, unconsciously sent out vibes of attraction in all directions, which was impossible to resist.
The magicians could not ignore such a phenomenon. Their first thought was to improve the magical properties of their future children. If the magical reserve is connected to the channels of power... But alas! These two properties refused to unite in one body. Magos - witchers - were not born from marriages with witches. The children were either magicians, or witches, or ordinary people, devoid of strength and abilities.
But it turned out that with physical proximity, the witches could fill the magician’s reserve in a matter of minutes, in a way that he himself could not do this in a month. The first magicians who noticed this phenomenon acted wisely. They took the witches as wives and lived with them in love and harmony, receiving an inexhaustible source of energy in addition to a beautiful and intelligent wife.
But rationality is not very common among people. The desire to abuse and spoil can be stronger than the arguments of reason. Magicians began to catch witches in order to force them to give up the power that they were ready to share only voluntarily...
Why is it important to learn to separate lies from truth?
Today there are many religions, and people find it difficult to understand them.
Only correct faith can save a person from sinful ways. The Patriarchs of the Church talked a lot about this. As St. John Chrysostom asserted, correct faith will help to cope with any problems. In the modern world, many different false teachings have emerged that carry faith based on human pride or ignorance. All of them do not lead to God, but are precisely “good intentions.” There is only one path to the Almighty, and it is not easy.
An Orthodox person, in addition to faith, must have reason and reasoning. A believer must be able to distinguish lies from truth and see the tricks of dark forces. The clergy are convinced that the creators of all sects are demonic dark forces, the purpose of which is to lead souls astray from the path of the righteous. As a result, they can no longer be saved for the simple reason that it is very difficult to get a person out of the sect, and even more difficult to return him to the Church.
An Orthodox believer must constantly remember the apt expression about good intentions, so as not to forget how easily one can go astray from the true path.
Expression options
In the Russian language, words can change, familiar expressions begin to sound differently, acquiring a different meaning, but at the same time maintaining the content, changing the verbal form. Thus, a statement about good intentions sometimes changes the verb form, leaving the meaning. In this case, the expression may sound like this: the road to hell is paved, paved, paved.
The road to the underworld can be as paved as it is paved with good intentions. There are other interesting options. One of them goes something like this: “Good intentions lead straight to hell.”
Synonyms
There is an interesting phenomenon regarding the phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” A fairly ancient saying, and even having a religious connotation, unexpectedly acquired a synonym in the 20th century in connection with economic problems in Russia.
“We wanted the best, but it turned out as always” - this expression of V. S. Chernomyrdin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Federation, has acquired a synonymous meaning of the phrase about good intentions in the sense that implies a desire to do a good deed, but its result turns out to be completely opposite to what was expected . In this context, we were talking about the characteristics of the progress of monetary reform in the country in 1993. The phrase soon became truly popular and is often used instead of “good intentions.”
Use of expression
The saying is often used not only in everyday life, it is actively used by journalists and writers. There is also a short version: “good intentions”, which has an ending with a similar meaning. In the biblical sense, the phrase is used no less often than in the everyday one. As the Apostle James said, faith without works is dead; in other words, good intentions that did not come true are the result of lack of faith and do not lead to salvation.
This point of view is also quite justified: in this expression, before the word “intentions,” “unrealized” is omitted. It’s like, for example, when raising a child, guided by good intentions, you do everything for him. At the same time, he can grow up to be a completely unworthy person. Before doing any good, you need to figure out what is truly good for a particular person.
Greed
Greed is the desire to have more of what is needed. For each person, a certain share is allocated, which he must be content with, caring about the welfare of others and his duty, and not about an increased standard of living.
Everything living and non-living in the universe is under the control of the Lord and belongs to Him. Therefore, everyone should use only what he needs and is allocated to him as his share, and not encroach on anything else, well understanding who owns everything. By adhering to such a course of action, a person can hope to live for hundreds of years, for such activity does not bind him to the laws of karma. There is no other way for a person.
Sri Ishopanishad. 1-2.
Particularly noteworthy in this text is: “There is no other path for man,” meaning that other paths are intended for animals, not people. Only one with intelligence can be called a man. And a reasonable person will not follow the path of ever-increasing needs. This path leads to deception, fear and hatred. Rich people don’t just surround their homes with fortress walls and put bars on the windows. They clearly lack peace of mind.
We also recommend this article: Spiritual knowledge - how does it differ from material knowledge?
Greed, in this understanding, is the desire to consume something in excess and receive benefits where there is no need to receive them. Sometimes a person in a certain position can use it to make a profit. This is greed. Wealth obtained in this way is always under threat, if not from the state and thieves, then from competitors.
Greed immerses a person in a certain type of activity from which he wants to get a lot of pleasure. The vice of unregulated pleasures manifests itself not only in lust, because lust can be satisfied temporarily, but greed will encourage you to enjoy without interruption. This is where greed is more dangerous. It is also dangerous because it will never be satisfied, because having received something, the human mind craves more.
So the summer has passed, As if it never happened. It's warm when warming up. But this is not enough.
Everything that could come true fell right into my hands, like a five-fingered leaf. But this is not enough.
Neither evil nor good was lost in vain, Everything burned brightly. But this is not enough.
She took life under her wing, took care of her and saved her. I was really lucky. But this is not enough.
The leaves were not burned, the branches were not broken off... The day was washed like glass. Only this is not enough.
Arseny Tarkovsky.
Origin of the saying and its variants
There is a version that the phrase belongs to the writer from England Samuel Johnson, as mentioned by his biographer, the author of two volumes of memoirs about the writer.
However, there is another version of the origin of this expression. The author is believed to be the 17th-century priest and metaphysical poet George Herbert, whose phrase is: “Hell is full of good intentions and desires.” It seems to emphasize the meaning of a statement from the Bible, where it sounds like: “The path of sinners is paved with stones, but at the end of it is the pit of hell.” The second option is most likely, since the author seems to demonstrate with this expression one of the foundations of Protestant ethics. Its essence is that true faith is undoubtedly expressed in good deeds, and not in dreams about them.
History has many examples where good intentions led not only to negative results, but even to tragic events. Hiding behind the desire to improve the life of mankind, how many revolutions were carried out, parties and radical movements were created. As a result, everything led to the crusades, Bolshevism, fascism, the goal of which was to make happy, if not all of humanity, then at least certain races or peoples, in their opinion, worthy of it. Therefore, it is very important that good intentions lead only to good deeds.
There is an inversion of this phrase in Goethe's Faust
If in the aphorism itself we are talking about good intentions leading to a bad result, then Goethe describes the opposite situation: “So who are you, finally?” asks Faust. “I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good,” Mephistopheles answers.
It was this translation of phrases, closest to the original, that was probably made by M.A. Bulgakov himself for the epigraph to “The Master and Margarita.”
Good and evil are closely intertwined, like the legends about Archdeacon Theophilus.
The meaning of the expression is that unclean spirits perform their function in this world: they tempt, punish, lead astray. This is their natural need.
A deal with the devil forced Archdeacon Theophilus to take the spiritual path and achieve salvation
But at the same time, they commit many good deeds in this pursuit of evil.
Good and evil are too closely intertwined (this idea is developed by Bulgakov in Woland’s monologue about shadows and light).
A good example of how the described power does good is the legend about Archdeacon Theophilus. He made a deal with the devil, but repented and began to fervently pray to the Mother of God. This ultimately led him to salvation. Thus, evil became the incentive for victory over the sinful nature.
By the way, it was the legend about Theophilus that formed the basis of Faust.
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