Quotes about Intentions

Oh, they meant to be — I know they meant to be just as good and kind as possible. And when people mean to be good to you, you don't mind very much when they're not quite — always.

At the beginning of a new year, many people have nothing better to do than to make a list of bad deeds and resolve from now on—how many such "from-now-ons" have there already been!—to begin with better intentions, but they are still stuck in the middle of their paganism.

Holiness has to do with more than mere acts. Our motives must be holy, that is, arising from a desire to do something simply because it is the will of God. Our thoughts should be holy, since they are known to God even before they are formed in our minds.

Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you.

Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you. 'I intended to bring you flowers, but I didn't.' 'I meant to finish this work on time.' 'I was going to be there for your birthday.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

That horrible Benito Hoover! And yet the man had meant well enough. Which only made it, in a way, much worse. Those who meant well behaved in the same way as those who meant badly.

Emotions serve characters' purposes. That is their motivation.

One doesn't need telepathy to read your intentions.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

Often we judge ourselves by our intentions and everyone else by their actions. It is possible to intend one thing while communicating something totally different. Sometimes our true motives are cleverly hidden even from us.

The gifts we are given in life require the best of us, not merely our best intentions.