APAD: The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions

 

Meaning:

Most sources interpret this expression as meaning that good intentions are

worthless unless followed up with action. 

 

Some offer an alternative interpretation: that actions that are taken with good

intent can have unintended negative consequences.

 

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The 2nd interpretation sounds more intuitive to me. Without action, mere

intention, no matter how good, paves nothing.

 

Regardless. The problem seems to be that it's hard to hold onto what is good.

 

As a hard-working immigrant (at least I used to be), I worry that out of a

desire for comfort and ease (read good intentions), I have created a bubble. My

boy was not spoiled but his life was too comfortable. There was no street fights

where we lived, for example. I made it up to him by sending him to martial art

schools where he got crushed and even injured on a regular basis. It was not

exactly the same but the best we could manage.