See the end justifies the means in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "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”). 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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],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2010, Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, chapter 5, in Merchants of Doubt:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Tuchanka:",
"text": "Shepard: You honestly think the experiments you did here are justified?\nMaelon: We committed cultural genocide! Nothing I do will ever be justified!\nMaelon: The experiments are monstrous... because I was taught to be a monster.\nShepard: Mordin, did you ever perform experiments like this?\nMordin: No. Never taught you this, Maelon.\nMaelon: So your hands are clean! What does it matter if the ground is stained with the blood of millions!\nMaelon: You taught me that the end justified the means. I will undo what we did, Professor. The only way I know how.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2023 July 7, David Smith, “End justifies means for Biden in sending cluster bombs to Ukraine”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
"text": "The White House argument is simple: that the end justifies the means.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"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."
],
"id": "en-the_end_justifies_the_means-en-proverb-CeNZ011a",
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"related": [
{
"word": "by any means"
},
{
"word": "end in itself"
},
{
"word": "means to an end"
},
{
"word": "ways and means"
},
{
"word": "all's fair in love and war"
},
{
"word": "consequentialism"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "the ends justify the means"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "al-ḡāyatu tubarriru l-wasīlata",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "الْغَايَةُ تُبَرِّرُ الْوَسِيلَةَ"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "celtá opravdáva srédstvata",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "целта́ оправда́ва сре́дствата"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "els fins justifiquen els mitjans"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "只要目的正當，可以不擇手段 /只要目的正当"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "zhǐyào mùdì zhèngdàng, kěyǐ bùzéshǒuduàn",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "可以不择手段"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "účel světí prostředky"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "målet helliger midlet"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "het doel heiligt de middelen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "tarkoitus pyhittää keinot"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "la fin justifie les moyens"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "qui veut la fin veut les moyens"
},
{
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "o fin xustifica os medios"
},
{
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"roman": "mizani amartlebs sašualebas",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "მიზანი ამართლებს საშუალებას"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "der Zweck heiligt die Mittel"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "o skopós agiázei ta mésa",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "ο σκοπός αγιάζει τα μέσα"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"roman": "ha-mattará meqaddéshet et ha-emtza'ím",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "הַמַּטָּרָה מְקַדֶּשֶׁת אֶת הָאֶמְצָעִים"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"roman": "kol ha-emtza'ím ksherím",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "כָּל הָאֶמְצָעִים כְּשֵׁרִים"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "a cél szentesíti az eszközt"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "tilgangurinn helgar meðalið"
},
{
"code": "id",
"lang": "Indonesian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "tujuan menghalalkan cara"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "il fine giustifica i mezzi"
},
{
"alt": "もくてきのためにはしゅだんをえらばない",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "mokuteki no tame ni wa shudan o erabanai",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "目的のためには手段を選ばない"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "嘘も方便"
},
{
"alt": "うそもほうべん",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "uso mo hōben",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "うそも方便"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"roman": "mokjeogi sudaneul jeongdanghwahanda",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "목적이 수단을 정당화한다"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "exitus ācta probat"
},
{
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "celta gi opravduva sredstvata",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "целта ги оправдува средствата"
},
{
"code": "ms",
"lang": "Malay",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "matlamat menghalalkan cara"
},
{
"code": "no",
"lang": "Norwegian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "målet helliggjør midlene"
},
{
"code": "fa",
"lang": "Persian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "هدف وسیله را توجیه میکند"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "cel uświęca środki"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "os fins justificam os meios"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "não se faz omelete sem se quebrar alguns ovos"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "scopul scuză mijloacele"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "celʹ oprávdyvajet srédstva",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "цель опра́вдывает сре́дства"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic"
],
"word": "ци̑љ опра̀вда̄ва̄ срѐдство"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "cȋlj opràvdāvā srèdstvo"
},
{
"code": "sk",
"lang": "Slovak",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "účel svätí prostriedky"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "el fin justifica los medios"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "ändamålet helgar medlen"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "amaca giden her yol mübahtır"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "meta vypravdovuje zasoby",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "мета виправдовує засоби"
},
{
"code": "vi",
"lang": "Vietnamese",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "cứu cánh biện minh cho phương tiện"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Heroides",
"Machiavelli",
"Ovid",
"The Prince",
"consequentialism#Teleological ethics"
]
}
],
"word": "the end justifies the means"
}
{
"etymology_text": "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”). 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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{
"word": "by any means"
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{
"word": "end in itself"
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{
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{
"word": "ways and means"
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{
"word": "all's fair in love and war"
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"ref": "2010, Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway, chapter 5, in Merchants of Doubt:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Tuchanka:",
"text": "Shepard: You honestly think the experiments you did here are justified?\nMaelon: We committed cultural genocide! Nothing I do will ever be justified!\nMaelon: The experiments are monstrous... because I was taught to be a monster.\nShepard: Mordin, did you ever perform experiments like this?\nMordin: No. Never taught you this, Maelon.\nMaelon: So your hands are clean! What does it matter if the ground is stained with the blood of millions!\nMaelon: You taught me that the end justified the means. I will undo what we did, Professor. The only way I know how.",
"type": "quote"
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"ref": "2023 July 7, David Smith, “End justifies means for Biden in sending cluster bombs to Ukraine”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
"text": "The White House argument is simple: that the end justifies the means.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
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"Machiavelli",
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"The Prince",
"consequentialism#Teleological ethics"
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"word": "the ends justify the means"
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],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "al-ḡāyatu tubarriru l-wasīlata",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "الْغَايَةُ تُبَرِّرُ الْوَسِيلَةَ"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "celtá opravdáva srédstvata",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "целта́ оправда́ва сре́дствата"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "els fins justifiquen els mitjans"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "只要目的正當，可以不擇手段 /只要目的正当"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "zhǐyào mùdì zhèngdàng, kěyǐ bùzéshǒuduàn",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "可以不择手段"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "účel světí prostředky"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "målet helliger midlet"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "het doel heiligt de middelen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "tarkoitus pyhittää keinot"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "la fin justifie les moyens"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "qui veut la fin veut les moyens"
},
{
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "o fin xustifica os medios"
},
{
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"roman": "mizani amartlebs sašualebas",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "მიზანი ამართლებს საშუალებას"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "der Zweck heiligt die Mittel"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "o skopós agiázei ta mésa",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "ο σκοπός αγιάζει τα μέσα"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"roman": "ha-mattará meqaddéshet et ha-emtza'ím",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "הַמַּטָּרָה מְקַדֶּשֶׁת אֶת הָאֶמְצָעִים"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"roman": "kol ha-emtza'ím ksherím",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "כָּל הָאֶמְצָעִים כְּשֵׁרִים"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "a cél szentesíti az eszközt"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "tilgangurinn helgar meðalið"
},
{
"code": "id",
"lang": "Indonesian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "tujuan menghalalkan cara"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "il fine giustifica i mezzi"
},
{
"alt": "もくてきのためにはしゅだんをえらばない",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "mokuteki no tame ni wa shudan o erabanai",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "目的のためには手段を選ばない"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "嘘も方便"
},
{
"alt": "うそもほうべん",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "uso mo hōben",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "うそも方便"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"roman": "mokjeogi sudaneul jeongdanghwahanda",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "목적이 수단을 정당화한다"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "exitus ācta probat"
},
{
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "celta gi opravduva sredstvata",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "целта ги оправдува средствата"
},
{
"code": "ms",
"lang": "Malay",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "matlamat menghalalkan cara"
},
{
"code": "no",
"lang": "Norwegian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "målet helliggjør midlene"
},
{
"code": "fa",
"lang": "Persian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "هدف وسیله را توجیه میکند"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "cel uświęca środki"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "os fins justificam os meios"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "não se faz omelete sem se quebrar alguns ovos"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "scopul scuză mijloacele"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "celʹ oprávdyvajet srédstva",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "цель опра́вдывает сре́дства"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"tags": [
"Cyrillic"
],
"word": "ци̑љ опра̀вда̄ва̄ срѐдство"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"tags": [
"Roman"
],
"word": "cȋlj opràvdāvā srèdstvo"
},
{
"code": "sk",
"lang": "Slovak",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "účel svätí prostriedky"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "el fin justifica los medios"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "ändamålet helgar medlen"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "amaca giden her yol mübahtır"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "meta vypravdovuje zasoby",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "мета виправдовує засоби"
},
{
"code": "vi",
"lang": "Vietnamese",
"sense": "morally wrong actions are sometimes necessary",
"word": "cứu cánh biện minh cho phương tiện"
}
],
"word": "the end justifies the means"
}
Download raw JSONL data for the end justifies the means meaning in English (10.6kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.