come from a good place

present singular third person comes from a good place · participle present coming from a good place · past came from a good place

1. idiomaticTo be motivated by decency, kindness, or good intentions.

   That gushing, glowing, 2,500-word goodbye e-mail does come from a good place. That doesn't make it a good idea.

   2013 August 1, Claire Suddath, “Office Etiquette: The Farewell E-Mail”, in Businessweek, retrieved 01 Mar 2014

   3 more examples

   “In the 1990s, there was actually tremendous pressure to put women on hormone therapy, and it came from a good place,” Dr. Bates says.

   2009 December 12, Natasha Singer, Duff Wilson, “Menopause, as Brought to You by Big Pharma”, in New York Times, retrieved 01 Mar 2014

   Ironically, this hesitation to condemn comes from a good place – the part of the British psyche that rightly prides itself on respecting other cultures.

   2011 July 23, Barbara Ellen, “Lucian Freud treasured the pleasures of the flesh”, in The Guardian/Observer, UK, retrieved 01 Mar 2014

   [M]y anxiety was my body's way of trying to protect me, to look after me. So the impulse was coming from a good place.

   2014 February 16, Nick Duerden, “Laura Mvula: ‘I don't think I'm good at being a pop star’”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 01 Mar 2014

   Synonyms: come from the right place, have one's heart in the right place