the end justifies the means

English

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Alternative forms

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 result justifies the deeds”).

Proverb

the end justifies the means

  1. Morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary to achieve morally right outcomes; actions can only be considered morally right or wrong by virtue of the morality of the outcome.

Usage notes

Translations

References

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