The Basics of Judaism: Basic Values and Morality: Good Intentions:
Is there a reward for good intentions?
Here are three Talmudic sources about the importance of our intentions:
Berachos 5b: People who do
what they can, and have good intentions,
are rewarded.
Shabbos 63a: If someone intends to perform a commandment, but was
unable to do it, he is regarded as if he had done it. (This is derived
from the phrase "those who think of His Name" in Malachi 3:16.)
Nazir 23b: A sin performed with good intentions is as great as a good
deed performed without good intentions.
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