the end justifies the means

English

Wikiquote

Alternative forms

• the ends justify the means

Etymology

Widely attributed to Machiavelli's The Prince, 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”).

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

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

Related terms

• all's fair in love and war

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), 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-matará mekadéshet et ha'emtza'ím)
• Hungarian: a cél szentesíti az eszközt (hu)
• Icelandic: tilgangurinn helgar meðalið (is)
• Indonesian: tujuan menghalalkan cara
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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
• Polish: cel uświęca środki (pl)
• Portuguese: os fins justificam os meios
• 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