通往地狱的道路充满了善意
通往地狱的道路充满了善意是一句谚语或格言。另一种形式是“地狱充满了美好的意义,而天堂充满了美好的作品”。 [1]
起源
[编辑]这个谚语的确切起源是未知的,它的形式已经随着时间而演变。现代表达方式“通往地狱的道路充满了善意”于1855年首次发表在亨利·博恩的《谚语手册》中。[2] 1670年,约翰·雷(John Ray)收集了《英语谚语集》(A Collection of English Proverbs),其中出版了一个更早的版本《地狱充满了美好的寓意和愿望》。 [3] 最早的类似此短语的文字出现在维吉尔(Virgil)的Aeneid中:“facilis descensus Averno(下降到地狱很容易)”。[4]
圣经中的相似语句可以在便西拉智訓 21:10找到,“The way of sinners is made plain with stones, but at the end thereof is the pit of hell.”[5] 谚语一般错误被认为是伯爾納鐸写的(约1150年),“L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs”(地狱充满了美好的愿望或欲望)。[6]引用是在他去世大约五百年后的1640年发生的,在他的任何出版作品中都没有发现该文本。
穆罕默德曾在圣训中写过相似的一句话:“天堂被困苦所包围,大火被欲望所包围。”
马克斯·韦伯在《政治作为一种志业》中提及,“‘善因必有善果,恶因必有恶果’绝对不是实情;反之,情况往往正好相反。不了解这一点的人﹐在政治上实际是个幼童”。[7]
含义
[编辑]该短语的一个普遍含义是,个人可能有意采取良好的行动,但是却没有采取行动。[8] [9]这种无所作为可能是由于拖延,懒惰或其他的恶习。[10]因此,这句话是一个警告,表示良好的意图如果不遵循是没有意义的。[11]
这种说法的另一种解释是,经常有人善意地做错事或恶行。或是好意可能会带来意想不到的后果。一个例子是引入入侵物种,例如在美国引入亚洲鲤鱼。[12]
亦有理解為:善意且無知的行為可能導向悲慘的結果。如:錯誤的政策比貪污更可怕。
参见
[编辑]参考文献
[编辑]- ^ the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Proverbs, Infobase Publishing: 234, 2007, ISBN 9780816066735
- ^ Bohn, Henry, A Hand-book of Proverbs, 1855
- ^ Ray, John, A Collection of English Proverbs, 1670
- ^ Mawr, Mrs E. B., Hell is paved with good intentions, Analogous Proverbs In Ten Languages, Elliot Stock, 1885
- ^ King James Bible
- ^ Ammer, Christine, The American Heritage dictionary of idioms, 1997 [2020-09-15], ISBN 9780395727744, (原始内容存档于2020-09-16)
- ^ Max, Weber, Politics as a Vocation, 1919,
The problem — the experience of the irrationality of the world — has been the driving force of all religious evolution. The Indian doctrine of karma, Persian dualism, the doctrine of original sin, predestination and the deus absconditus, all these have grown out of this experience. Also the early Christians knew full well the world is governed by demons and that he who lets himself in for politics, that is, for power and force as means, contracts with diabolical powers and for his action it is not true that good can follow only from good and evil only from evil, but that often the opposite is true. Anyone who fails to see this is, indeed, a political infant.
- ^ The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy Third (Dictionary.com/Houghton Mifflin Company). 2005 [March 28, 2013]. (原始内容存档于2015-09-09).
- ^ The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus Third (Dictionary.cambridge.org/Cambridge University Press). 2008 [March 28, 2013]. (原始内容存档于2015-07-22).
- ^ Collis, Harry; Risso, Mario, The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions, 101 American English proverbs: understanding language and culture through commonly used sayings, Lincolnwood, Ill: Passport Books, 1992, ISBN 9780844254128
- ^ Bowden, Charles L., editor; Burstein, Alvin George, editor. Psychosocial Basis of Health Care. Williams & Wilkins. 1983: 98. ISBN 0-683-00993-1.
- ^ Kalman, Izzy, Principle Number One: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions, Psychology Today, Resilience to Bullying, August 16, 2010