the end justifies the means

the end justifies the means

English

Wikiquote

Alternative forms

• the ends justify the means

Etymology

Widely attributed to Machiavelli's The Prince,[1] which does reflect this philosophy but does not use the phrase in this wording. A possible source is Ovid's Heroides (ca. 10 BC), which says exitus ācta probat (“the outcome justifies the deeds”). However, its use there is quite likely to have an opposite meaning of outcome proving means were unjustified, based on its context.

Proverb

the end justifies the means

1. Morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary to achieve morally right outcomes; actions can be considered morally right or wrong only by virtue of the morality of the outcome.
   • 2010, Naomi Oreskes; Erik M. Conway, chapter 5, in Merchants of Doubt:

     Marxists were often criticized for believing that the ends justified the means, yet these old Cold Warriors were now the ones using ends to justify means—attacking science in the name of freedom.

   • 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, OCLC 865290061, PC, scene: Tuchanka:

     Shepard: You honestly think the experiments you did here are justified?
     Maelon: We committed cultural genocide! Nothing I do will ever be justified!
     Maelon: The experiments are monstrous... because I was taught to be a monster.
     Shepard: Mordin, did you ever perform experiments like this?
     Mordin No. Never taught you this, Maelon.
     Maelon: So your hands are clean! What does it matter if the ground is stained with the blood of millions!
     Maelon: You taught me that the end justified the means. I will undo what we did, Professor. The only way I know how.

Usage notes

• Apart from the negation, a common retort is that immoral or violent means “corrupt the ends”.

Translations

morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary

Arabic: الْغَايَةُ تُبَرِّرُ الْوَسِيلَةَ‎ (al-ḡāyatu tubarriru l-wasīlata) Bulgarian: целта́ оправда́ва сре́дствата (celtá opravdáva srédstvata) Catalan: els fins justifiquen els mitjans Chinese: Mandarin: 只要目的正當，可以不擇手段／只要目的正当，可以不择手段 (zhǐyào mùdì zhèngdàng, kěyǐ bùzéshǒuduàn) Czech: účel světí prostředky Danish: målet helliger midlet Dutch: het doel heiligt de middelen Finnish: tarkoitus pyhittää keinot French: la fin justifie les moyens (fr), qui veut la fin veut les moyens (fr) Galician: o fin xustifica os medios Georgian: მიზანი ამართლებს საშუალებას (ka) (mizani amartlebs sašualebas) German: der Zweck heiligt die Mittel (de) Greek: ο σκοπός αγιάζει τα μέσα (el) (o skopós agiázei ta mésa) Hebrew: הַמַּטָּרָה מְקַדֶּשֶׁת אֶת הָאֶמְצָעִים‎ (he) (ha-mattará meqaddéshet et ha-emtza'ím), כָּל הָאֶמְצָעִים כְּשֵׁרִים‎ (kol ha-emtza'ím ksherím) Hungarian: a cél szentesíti az eszközt (hu) Icelandic: tilgangurinn helgar meðalið (is) Indonesian: tujuan menghalalkan cara Italian: il fine giustifica i mezzi Japanese: 目的のためには手段を選ばない (もくてきのためにはしゅだんをえらばない, mokuteki no tame ni wa shudan o erabanai), 嘘も方便 (ja), うそも方便 (うそもほうべん, uso mo hōben) Korean: 목적이 수단을 정당화한다 (mokjeogi sudaneul jeongdanghwahanda) Latin: exitus ācta probat Macedonian: целта ги оправдува средствата (celta gi opravduva sredstvata) Norwegian: målet helliggjør midlene Persian: هدف وسیله را توجیه می‌کند‎ Polish: cel uświęca środki (pl) Portuguese: os fins justificam os meios, não se faz omelete sem se quebrar alguns ovos Romanian: scopul scuză mijloacele Russian: цель опра́вдывает сре́дства (ru) (celʹ oprávdyvajet srédstva) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ци̑љ опра̀вда̄ва̄ срѐдство Roman: cȋlj opràvdāvā srèdstvo Slovak: účel svätí prostriedky Spanish: el fin justifica los medios Swedish: ändamålet helgar medlen Turkish: amaca giden her yol mübahtır Ukrainian: мета виправдовує засоби (meta vypravdovuje zasoby)

See also

• all's fair in love and war
• consequentialism

References

1. “Machiavelli: The end justifies the means”, in publicbookshelf.com‎, 2002