Other related topics at:
All In Your Mind
24. Intentions; Morality
"The morality of an action depends on the motive from which we
act. If I fling half a crown to a beggar with intention to break
his head, and he picks it up and buys victuals with it, the
physical effect is good; but, with respect to me, the action is
very wrong. So, religious exercises, if not performed with an
intention to please God, avail us nothing. As our Savior says of
those who perform them from other motives, 'Verily they have
their reward.'"
Boswell: Life
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67. Intentions; Rousseau
Boswell: "Do you really think him [Rousseau] a bad
man?" Johnson: "Sir, if you are talking jestingly of
this, I don't talk with you. If you mean to be serious, I think
him one of the worst of men; a rascal, who ought to be hunted
out of society, as he has been. Three or four nations have
expelled him: and it is a shame that he is protected in this
country." Boswell: "I don't deny, Sir, but that his
novel may, perhaps, do harm; but I cannot think his intention
was bad." Johnson: "Sir, that will not do. We cannot
prove any man's intention to be bad. You may shoot a man through
the head, and say you intended to miss him; but the Judge will
order you to be hanged. An alleged want of intention, when evil
is committed, will not be allowed in a court of justice.
Rousseau, Sir, is a very bad man. I would sooner sign a sentence
for his transportation, than that of any felon who has gone from
the Old Bailey these many years. Yes, I should like to have him
work in the plantations."
Boswell: Life
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811. Intentions
"Actions are visible, though motives are secret."
Johnson: Lives of the Poets (Cowley)
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947. Intentions
"Almost every man seeks his own advantage in helping others."
Johnson: Idler #30 (November 11, 1758)
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1,661. Intentions
"Good intentions may be frustrated when they are executed without
suitable skill, or directed to an end unattainable in
itself."
Johnson: Adventurer #137 (February 26, 1754)
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