"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"

Meaning well, wanting to help, but causing more harm than good. 

I remember my a.dad and I used to have these "deep conversations" about People, and how so many of them would talk about how much they cared about others, and wished to do more to help them, only to create bigger problems caused by mistakes and neglect.

He called these People "bleeding-heart liberals".  Democrats.  He would then go on to his own pearls of wisdom like:  "You can find 'sympathy' between shit and syphilis in the dictionary" or "Honey is bee shit".

To know the man, well, is to love his intentions.  He wanted me to be prepared for the harsh realities of life; people say one thing, but often do another.

My a.dad seemed to forget he was talking to the daughter who was not good enough to be kept, but good enough to be sold to another couple.

[Of course, I couldn't discuss that philosophy with him, because it would get him upset -- so why cause trouble when I didn't have to?]

Funny thing about those "speeches" as I called them.... they were often spoken at me when we were alone, usually waiting for my a. mother.  He would often drive her to work, so I would go with him to pick her up.  He usually left a half-hour early, and she always ran late, so we had lots of Quality Car-Time to chat.  Once she could be seen exiting the building, he would clam-up and put-on his dutiful-dad persona -- the one that greeted his wife as if all he cared about was how her day went.

I miss those days of us getting caught-up in conversation, but I by no means miss the mixed-messages he'd send by telling me one set of rules, then living according to a whole different set.  Continuity and consistency would have worked much better.