the end justifies the means

English

Alternative forms

• the ends justify the means

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.

Translations

morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary

Arabic: الغاية تبرر الوسيلة (ar) Chinese: Mandarin: 只要目的正當，可以不擇手段 (zh), 只要目的正当，可以不择手段 (zh) (zhǐyào mùdì zhèngdàng, kěyǐ bùzéshǒuduàn) Czech: účel světí prostředky (cs) Finnish: tarkoitus pyhittää keinot French: la fin justifie les moyens (fr) Georgian: მიზანი ამართლებს საშუალებას (ka) (mizani amartlebs sashaulebas) German: der Zweck heiligt die Mittel (de) Greek: ο σκοπός αγιάζει τα μέσα (el) Hebrew: המטרה מקדשת את האמצעים (he) (Hamatara Mekadeshet et Ha'emtza'im) Hungarian: a cél szentesíti az eszközt (hu) Icelandic: tilgangurinn helgar meðalið (is)

Japanese: 目的のためには手段を選ばない (ja) (mokuteki-no tame-ni wa shudan-o erabanai) Latin: exitus acta probat (la) Norwegian: målet helliggjør midlene (no) Polish: cel uświęca środki (pl) Portuguese: os fins justificam os meios (pt) Russian: цель оправдывает средства (ru) (cel' oprávdyvajet srédstva) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ци̑љ опра̀вда̄ва̄ срѐдство (sh) Roman: cȋlj opràvdāvā srèdstvo (sh) Spanish: el fin justifica los medios (es) Swedish: ändamålet helgar medlen (sv)