(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium .)
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Well-intended acts can potentially lead to disasters .
1987 February 1, T. R. Witomski, “Zeitgeist or Poltergeist? Why Gay Books Are So Bad”, in Gay Community News , volume 14 , number 28 , page 8:The road to literary hell is paved with the good intentions of publishers who start out saying "I'm gonna do it right; I'm not gonna screw up like Alyson or Gay Sunshine." Several projects later, these publishers are turning down the same "good material" that Alyson and Gay Sunshine did and building up the same type list they first wanted to avoid.
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.
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 (es) , el camino al infierno está empedrado de buenas intenciones (es) , 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
