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ANSWERS: 15
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Ever had someone hurt you horribly, even though that person didn't intend to? Ever have someone try to force his/her will upon you because it is "what is best" for you? Do you think George W. Bush intended the Iraqi war to turn out this way? The first one shows that we are sometimes thoughtless, and we are imperfect. The second one shows egotistic ferver (that you know better than the actual person what is good for him/her - assuming we are talking about adults of sound mind) in which we can believe our opinions and views are 100% right for everyone. The third shows a shortcoming in analysis and planning (Ready?! Fire! Aim!) This is what is meant by, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
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Because know matter how much good you do for humanity and the world unless you accept God into your heart you are going to Hell...Well, at least according to Christianity Personally, I don't believe in Hell, much less God. P.S. I took this as a literal statement in order to give a rebutle against christianity....
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Antigone Rising gives excellent examples of "good" intentions for bad reasons. I would like to add that intentions alone are worthless, so another interpretation of this axiom is that intentions alone, even good intentions for good reasons, simply aren't sufficient. It takes action to accomplish anything. Hell, outside of the Christian definition, could certainly be a place where people could have acted to do something positive and failed to do so.
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Sometimes because of the law of unintended consequences--I'm sure Rachel Carson never intended for a million children a year to die of malaria when she wrote Silent Spring, but that's what has happened because of the banning of DDT (whose toxic effects aren't nearly as bad as Carson and her followers said they were.) Usually it's because people think that their cause is so just, it's okay to break a few rules, or a few heads, along the way.
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There's a Buddhist notion of "skillful means": to act in ignorance is generally considered worse than not acting at all. That is, if you don't understand an area -- how the major pieces interconnect -- your actions are as likely to produce havoc as they are to produce good. Better to sit quietly, listen and observe, until you can see what's needed, then act. Much less chance of screwing it up. But this requires patience and the ability to restrain oneself from "good intention" impulses...
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Because the perverbial 'road' to hell is like the wooden coin 'round-2-it'...it has no beginning and no end.
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They ran out of brimstone.
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it's gotta be paved with somthing
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Some of the above answers may be correct but I differ in opinion... To me an intention is not yet an action, it is something you mean to do. "Dad intended to stop drink driving after tonight but killed 14 people on the way home" A rather over exaggerated example to illustrate my point! ;-) The person who intends to do the right thing can sail through life feeling like he isn't really a criminal, or bad person, or a rude person, or even just a naughty person in comparison to those who intentionally commit evil, bad or simply naughty acts. But the fact is there's no difference. So to me the proverb means: no point intending to do the right thing if you don't do it, as you will still end up in Hell. So go ahead - do the right thing today! ;-)
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For me, it basiclly says : Be careful not to justify the use of "evil" means to reach a "good" outcome. For example. You could probably save alot of lives by kidnapping some rich preson, demand ransom and use that money to feed the poor. Your intentions are good, but it is still not the right(good) way to go at it. We need only to look back in the history books to find plenty of examples of horrible events that has taken place because the intentions were good, but means were wrong and the population didnt pay heed to that and justified it because it was for "the greater good". -
This question challenges the assumption that good intentions are all you need to do something positive or create something special. I was researching this question because of a recent dating failure. I felt everything I did was positive and full of good intentions. How could my heart get broken? But it did, and there I was, in hell with a broken heart. Good intentions are just intentions, your assumptions of what is good. If you don't give yourself the time and have patience to listen and observe what you have done, you will most likely end up in hell.
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Just look at Communism...
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Because most people cannot distinguish between what they know and what they think they know. So when it comes time for action all they have is their own indecision.
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Because everyone thinks they're right.
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The Godless believe the ends justify the means and many atrocities have been committed by those who want a better world and don't care how they go about getting it. Lets continue.. God is often criticized for not coming done and making a better world. He could but that might include eliminating "YOU" who have not yet decided. In the end he would be no better than a human with good intention.
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