the end justifies the means

谚语
中文释义

英文释义

谚语
  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.
    — 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.

词形变化

the ends justify the means alternative

词源

Falsely attributed to Machiavelli's The Prince, which does not use the phrase in the work. A possible source is Ovid's Heroides (ca. 10 BCE), 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.
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