No one cares about your intentions.
Stalin, Mao, Hitler, and almost every other despot has meant well. They wanted to create Heaven on earth and brought Hell.
Have selfish intentions? No one cares.
If the only reason you volunteer at a food shelter is because it makes you feel good, it doesn’t matter. We only care about what you did.
Intend to double sales next month, but sales end up flat? No one cares about your original intentions.
Intentions aren’t an alibi.
They’re a weak excuse for someone who didn’t deliver on a promise.
History judges based on what you actually did, not what your intentions were.
The question then becomes “Should your motivation to act be determined by trying to make a historical impact, or out of personal meaning?” The former is about what you did, the latter about what you intended.
That seems really harsh. Do you teach your children that philosophy when they have good intentions but, due to unforeseeable events, botch the attempt and either have nothing to show for it, or some kind of irreparable damage? Do you honestly tell them that their intentions didn’t matter at all, only the fact that they failed? If you do, you’re a terrible parent. I will agree that intentions have no standalone value, if that is what you’re getting at, but intentions and motivations are not necessarily excuses for behaviour, and thus should not be immediately ignored or condemned.
I wouldn’t look at their intentions then. I’d look at their effort. They could intend to get an A on a project, but if they put in minimal effort, their intentions were mean nothing. Everyone has good intentions, but no one else really cares about them. All we care about is their actions on the results. Many a despot has intended to bring heaven on earth and brought hell instead.