quotations about intentions
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
KARL MARX
Capital
Intentions are simply the intentional exercises of causal influence, normally via a brain event in order to produce some bodily movement and thereby affect the world in a certain way.
RICHARD SWINBURNE
Mind, Brain, and Free Will
The consciousness of good intentions, however unsuccessful, affords a joy more real, pure, and agreeable to nature than all the other means that can be furnished, either for obtaining one's desire or quieting the mind.
FRANCIS BACON
"Man's Duty to Society", Physical and Metaphysical Works
If you don't want to just live an ordinary life, then you will have to be intentional about converting all your time into that which you have been called to do.
SUNDAY ADELAJA
How To Become Great Through Time Conversion
The ablest diplomat will never boast of understanding a man, but only his intentions.
WILLIAM BOLITHO
Twelve Against the Gods
Perdition awaits at the end of a road constructed entirely from good intentions, the devil emerges from the details and hell abides in the small print.
IAIN M. BANKS
Transition
Truth can only be found in a person's record of actions, not their list of intentions.
SUZY KASSEM
Rise Up and Salute the Sun
Don't ascribe to evil what can be attributed to well-intentioned stupidity.
JAMES A. OWEN
The Shadow Dragons
A man's intentions change with the wind. They change every time he combs his hair, every time he gets behind the wheel of his car, every time he sees a good-looking woman, every time he pushes on his sunglasses and thinks maybe he's the coolest guy on the planet.
THOMAS WILLIAM SIMPSON
The Hancock Boys
The difference between good and bad intentions is this: that good intentions are so very satisfactory in themselves, that it really seems a work of supererogation to carry them into execution; whereas evil ones have a restlessness that can only be satisfied by action.
LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON
Romance and Reality
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.
WILLIAM A. FOSTER
quoted in Igniting the Spirit at Work: Daily Reflections
The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.
ALBERT CAMUS
The Plague
A lifetime can pass in the snap of a finger, and good intentions are never realized.
JOHN ORTBERG
The Stepping Out in Faith
It is a troublesome thing, Halford, this susceptibility to affronts where none are intended.
ANNE BRONTË
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Let not thy good intentions flatter thee to an evil action; what is essentially evil, no circumstance can make good.
FRANCIS QUARLES
Enchiridion
Motives do not concern me; they are a dangerous subject with which to deal.
J. KEKEWICH
Whelan v. Palmer, 1888
Good intentions will never justify evil actions, nor will good actions every justify evil intentions.
EMPRESS EUGENIE
attributed, Day's Collacon
Nothing daunts our intentions when they are just.
KATHARINE BLAKE
attributed, Day's Collacon
It is important to announce your intentions at top volume ... or your intentions will think you are ashamed of them.
CATHERYNNE M. VALENTE
The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
And good intentions? These scared him the most: people with good intentions tended not to question themselves. And people who didn't question themselves, in the scientific world and beyond, were the ones to watch out for.
SHANTHI SEKARAN
Lucky Boy