"two wrongs don't make a right" meaning in English

See two wrongs don't make a right in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Head templates: {{head|en|proverb}} two wrongs don't make a right
  1. (ethics) A wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action. Categories (topical): Ethics Related terms: an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, tu quoque, whataboutism Translations (a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action): 冤冤相報永無完了 (Chinese Mandarin), 冤冤相报永无完了 (yuānyuānxiāngbào yǒng wú wánliǎo) (Chinese Mandarin), du eraroj ne faras rajton (Esperanto), az egyik fél vétsége nem teszi a másik vétségét semmissé (english: paraphrasis) (Hungarian), due torti non fanno una ragione (Italian), dwa zła nie czynią dobra (english: literally: two evils don't make good) (Polish), dois erros não fazem um acerto (Portuguese), el fin no justifica los medios (Spanish), två fel gör inte ett rätt (Swedish)
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      "word": "two wrongs make a right"
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        {
          "ref": "1915, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 15, in The Highgrader:",
          "text": "\"But when it comes to taking what belongs to another—well, a thief is a thief. . . . After all, two wrongs don't make a right, do they?\"",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2006 April 9, Clifton Brown, “Boxing: Mayweather Is Crowned, but not without a Fight”, in New York Times, retrieved 2009-06-17:",
          "text": "\"Late in the fight, Roger told me Zab was going to do something dirty, and he did it,\" Mayweather said after the fight. \"I didn't return it, because two wrongs don't make a right.\"",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2023 May 31, Barry Doe, “A potential downside of ticket reform needs consideration”, in RAIL, number 984, page 58:",
          "text": "I have no doubt that while the industry loses a great deal of revenue owing to fraudulent travel, it probably more than makes up for it by allowing journey planners to charge too much for journeys - and two wrongs don't make a right.",
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        "A wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action."
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        "(ethics) A wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action."
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        {
          "word": "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
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        {
          "word": "tu quoque"
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          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "冤冤相報永無完了"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yuānyuānxiāngbào yǒng wú wánliǎo",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "冤冤相报永无完了"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "du eraroj ne faras rajton"
        },
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          "code": "hu",
          "english": "paraphrasis",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "az egyik fél vétsége nem teszi a másik vétségét semmissé"
        },
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          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "due torti non fanno una ragione"
        },
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          "code": "pl",
          "english": "literally: two evils don't make good",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "dwa zła nie czynią dobra"
        },
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          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "dois erros não fazem um acerto"
        },
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          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "el fin no justifica los medios"
        },
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          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
          "word": "två fel gör inte ett rätt"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "word": "two wrongs don't make a right"
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      "word": "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
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      "word": "tu quoque"
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          "ref": "2023 May 31, Barry Doe, “A potential downside of ticket reform needs consideration”, in RAIL, number 984, page 58:",
          "text": "I have no doubt that while the industry loses a great deal of revenue owing to fraudulent travel, it probably more than makes up for it by allowing journey planners to charge too much for journeys - and two wrongs don't make a right.",
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        "(ethics) A wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action."
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    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "冤冤相報永無完了"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yuānyuānxiāngbào yǒng wú wánliǎo",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "冤冤相报永无完了"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "du eraroj ne faras rajton"
    },
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      "code": "hu",
      "english": "paraphrasis",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "az egyik fél vétsége nem teszi a másik vétségét semmissé"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "due torti non fanno una ragione"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "english": "literally: two evils don't make good",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "dwa zła nie czynią dobra"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "dois erros não fazem um acerto"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "el fin no justifica los medios"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action",
      "word": "två fel gör inte ett rätt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "two wrongs don't make a right"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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.

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