
I Hate Small Talk http://maddox.xmission.com/smalltalk.html
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I Hate Small Talk http://maddox.xmission.com/smalltalk.html
The Best Page in the Universe
“Hell is paved with good intentions.”
April 14, 1775
Malone added a footnote indicating this is a "proverbial sentence", quoting an earlier 1651 source. At least two other sources appear prior to Johnson. John Ray, in 1670, cited as a proverb, "Hell is paved with good intentions." Even earlier than that, it has been attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), as "Hell is full of good intentions or desires."
[alt.quotations, Earlier Attributions, Wilson, Robert, UseNet, 2009-01-06]
Note that "The road to Hell…" is not part of the quotation.
The Samuel Johnson web site suggests this entry is dated 16 April, but it appears to be part of the previous entry.
Samuel Johnson web site http://www.samueljohnson.com/road.html
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol II
Source: The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 2
Reported in Newsweek (January 23, 1978), p. 23.
“If the way to hell is paved with good intentions, the way to defeat is paved with illusions.”
No Compromise – No Political Trading (1899)
316.
Aes Triplex (1878)
Variant: Even if the doctor does not give a year, even if he hesitates about a month, make one brave push and see what can be accomplished in a week.
On initial reports that Asteroid 1997 XF<sub>11</sub> could be on a trajectory to hit the Earth in 2028; as quoted in "Man in the News; A Cheery Herald of Fear: Brian Geoffrey Marsden" in The New York Times (13 March 1998) http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E2D91F30F930A25750C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all.
“May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.”