45 Good Intentions Quotes to Help You Follow Through

We’ve all heard the phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” and these good intentions quotes will help you better understand it.

According to modern philosophy, intentions are defined as “mental states that involve action plans to which the agent has committed themselves.”

An intention is a mindset.

It includes a plan to complete an action, and that action will bring about a desired goal.

Tell us your favorite good intentions quote in the comments below!

Why you should read quotes about good intentions

It is safe to say that most of us are well-intentioned individuals.

Rarely does somebody set out on a plan with bad intentions. 

But even good intentions can sometimes lead to undesirable outcomes. 

In fact, it happens more frequently than we think. 

There are many times when good intentions just don’t pan out how we planned or don’t materialize at all.

Reading good intentions quotes can allow us to be more well-intentional with our desires and action plans. 

Many kinds of intentions can help us move in the direction we want to go in life and reach our goals. 

Different intentions include:

• Prospective- forward-looking intentions about the future 
• Immediate- happening now, “intentions-in-action.”
• Motivational- includes expected consequences of action & the reason for performing the action
• Oblique- includes “side effects” that are unimportant but necessary for realizing the main intention

When you understand the intentions at play in your life, you can tailor them to fit your current needs and desires. 

When you know and understand your intentions, you can analyze yourself and your behavior and adjust accordingly to have a higher chance of achieving your goal. 

Or, in other words, a higher chance of fulfilling your original intentions. 

Best good intentions quotes

The best good intentions quotes are ones that make you think about the nature of intentions. 

1. “Good intentions are not good at all.” ― Fritz Chery

2. “Kindly intentioned, but not considerate.” ― Marilynne Robinson

3. “God save us from people who mean well.” ― Vikram Seth 

4. “No good would come of all these fine intentions.” ― Iris Murdoch

5. “If your intentions are good, nothing bad can happen.” ― Debasish Mridha

6. “And habits are hell’s own substitute for good intentions.” — Dorothy Dunnett

7. “One kind deed is more beautiful than a thousand good intentions.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo

8. “Good intentions are not the whole story. You must also pay attention.” ― George Hammond

9. “Uncomfortable thoughts must be got rid of by good intentions for the future.” ― George Eliot

10. “How good would a Good Samaritan be, if a Good Samaritan would only intend to do good?” ― John Janzen

Good intentions quotes about other people

Read these good intentions quotes about other people to align yourself with only the best intentions. 

11. “Your good intentions will never overshadow your deeds.” ― Bruce M. Morgan

12. “Well-meaning people are sometimes the most dangerous.” ― Angela N. Blount

13. “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” — Khalil Gibran

14. “I think every human being has good intentions in one aspect of life and some in every.” — Mats Wilander

15. “It’s exhausting, tiptoeing around someone who barges into your life with good intentions.” ― Gretta Mulrooney

16. “Not everyone has good intentions. Trust no one until Discernment and Time have whetted their words and actions.” ― Reena Doss

17. “Pity is the feeling of well-intentioned people who are unable to act… It is those who are able to carry out their good intentions who deserve praise.” ― Pramoedya Ananta Toer

18. “It’s a sad truth that in life, the people who hurt us the most are also the people who love us the most, and that they often do so with the best of intentions.” ― Sean Norris

19. “Good intentions aren’t enough. People have good intentions when they set a goal to do something, but then they miss a deadline or other milestone.” — Harvey Mackay

20. “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

Wise good intentions quotes about life

Expand your knowledge with these wise good intentions quotes about life.

21. “Intentions always look better on paper than in reality.” — Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give

22. “Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” — Peter Drucker

23. “Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.” — Milton Friedman

24. “The problem is that no matter how good your intentions, eventually you want to kill someone yourself.” ― Kenneth Cain

25. “A good intention is like an idea that you keep to yourself. If you don’t do something with it, it’s like it never existed.” ― Frank Sonnenberg

26. “Good intentions that are not clothed in reason lead to greater disasters than those actions built on ill will or stupidity.” ― Henning Mankell

27. “Approach people with good intentions and love, there is nothing more precious in this world than time, good intentions, and love.” ― Santosh Kumar

28. “The healthy should be reminded that we are all dying because it is through our own reminder of mortality that we accelerate our good intentions, into actions people can see.” ― Shannon L. Alder

29. “Not all of our heartless plans work as we intend; nor do all of our good intentions. We are where we are, and we can rarely predict where we will go, no matter how firm our beliefs.” ― Michelle Sagara West

30. “Without action, the best intentions in the world are nothing more than that: intentions.” — Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street

You might also enjoy these Heartless Quotes For Those Who Are Heartless.

Quotes about the evil of good intentions

Ensure you understand the flip side of these quotes about the evil of good intentions.

31. “Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” ― T. S. Eliot

32. “A good intention, with a bad approach, often leads to a poor result.” ― Thomas Edison

33. “So many financial dreams are thwarted by the failure to act upon good intentions.” — Suze Orman

34. “Good intentions never change anything. They only become a deeper and deeper rut.” — Joyce Meyer

35. “I think every religion is founded with good intentions, but with any good thing, there’s a negative use for it.” — Daniel Caesar

36. “Your intentions will be good. Without consideration and forethought, however, your actions could still be evil.” — Michael A. Stackpole

37. “However, it’s usually random acts of good intent, like this one, which get you into the worst trouble in the long run.” — Andrew James Pritchard

38. “With the best of intentions you toss me a lifeline. Failing to see how a piece of rope will do me any good, I ignore it and drown.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich

39. “Manipulation, fueled with good intent, can be a blessing. But when used wickedly, it is the beginning of a magician’s karmic calamity.” ― T.F. Hodge

40. “The evil that is in the world comes out of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding.” — Albert Camus

Quotes about the roads paved with good intentions

These quotes about the roads paved with good intentions will help you keep your intentions on the right path. 

41. “Hell is paved with good intentions.” ― Samuel Johnson

42. “The steep descent into Hell is always paved with good intentions.” — Bianca Scardoni, Invidious

43 “But remember that good intentions pave many roads. Not all of them lead to hell.” ― Neal Shusterman

44. “The road to powerful magical items is paved with good intentions and hideous deathtraps.” ― Jeff Mach

45. “Hell isn’t merely paved with good intentions; it’s walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too.” — Aldous Huxley

Good intentions are the start of great things 

Not much good would happen in this world without someone having good intentions first. 

Think about it. 

Even though good intentions don’t always work out the way we plan, they are necessary to jumpstart the process of progress and change. 

They are necessary for ingenuity, invention, and discovery.

Good intentions are the foundation for humans to make something better than it was before. 

They are necessary for us to help ourselves and help others. 

So don’t let the fact that good intentions can go awry stop you from making them. 

Or from pursuing them. 

Set that mindset. 

Make that plan. 

Achieve that goal!

Just as you intended. 

You might also enjoy the movie, Good Intentions!

Tell us your favorite good intentions quote in the comments section!

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