Ends Justify The Means Quotes - Page 2

• There are two parts to the human dilemma. One is the belief that the end justifies the means. That push-button philosophy, that deliberate deafness to suffering, has become the monster in the war machine. The other is the betrayal of the human spirit: the assertion of dogma that closes the mind, and turns a nation, a civilization, into a regiment of ghosts--obedient ghosts or tortured ghosts.

  Jacob Bronowski

  Betrayal, Philosophy, War

  Jacob Bronowski (1976). “The ascent of man”

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• ... the United States, for generations, has sustained two parallel but opposed states of mind about military atrocities and human rights: one of U.S. benevolence, generally held by the public, and the other of ends-justify-the-means brutality sponsored by counterinsurgency specialists. Normally the specialists carry out their actions in remote locations with little notice in the national press. That allows the public to sustain its faith in a just America, while hard-nosed security and economic interests are still protected in secret.

  Robert Parry

  Military, War, Mean

  7 Copy quote

• If it's anything that's going to result in suffering to animals or people, then I don't think [the end] justifies the means... Yeah; but then again if you could hurt ten people to save 100 people and there was no option, what would you do? I can't really address that.

  Ingrid Newkirk

  Hurt, Mean, Thinking

  "In the Hot Seat, Part II: Activism and Controversy". Interview with Catherine Clyne, www.satyamag.com. January 2001.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• One must consider the final result

  Niccolo Machiavelli

  Finals, Results

  Niccolo Machiavelli (1979). “The Portable Machiavelli”, p.14, Penguin

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• The ends do not justify the means

  Seth

  Mean, Ends, Warrior Of The Light

  4 Copy quote

• The principle that the end justifies the means is and remains the only rule of political ethics; anything else is just a vague chatter and melts away between one’s fingers.

  Arthur Koestler

  Mean, Political, Principles

  ARTHUR KOESTLER (1941). “DARKNESS AT NOON”

  15 Copy quote

  Show source

• Narrative Collapse is what happens when we no longer have time in which to tell a story. Remote controls and DVRs give us the ability to break down narratives - particularly the more abusive ones. This is a great thing for escaping the 'ends-justify-the-means' traps of 20th-century wars and religions, but it can also make it hard to convey values.

  Douglas Rushkoff

  War, Mean, Escaping

  "Living in the Present Is a Disorder". Interview with R.U. Sirius, www.wired.com. April 8, 2013.

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• Stem cells are probably going to be extremely useful. But it isn't a given, and even if it were, I don't think the end justifies the means. I am not against stem cells, I think it's great. Blanket objection is not very reasonable to me-any effort to control scientific advances is doomed to fail. You cannot stop the human mind from working.

  Joseph Murray

  Failure, Mean, Science

  "A Conversation With: Joseph E. Murray; On Surgical Innovation And The Questions It Can Raise". Interview With Cornelia Dean, www.nytimes.com. September 25, 2001.

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• The end justifies the means. Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to get the right result.

  Sebastian Fitzek

  Mean, Sometimes, Ends

  Sebastian Fitzek (2011). “Splinter: A gripping, chilling psychological thriller”, p.135, Atlantic Books Ltd

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• Does the end justify the means? Or should it be, Do the ends justify the mean; do the extremes justify moderation?

  Daniel N. Robinson

  Mean, Simple, Doe

  7 Copy quote

• If the end does not justify the means - what can?

  Edward Abbey

  Mean, Doe, Ends

  Edward Abbey (2015). “A Voice Crying in the Wilderness”, p.9, RosettaBooks

  57 Copy quote

  Show source

• Too soon we breast the tape and too late we realize the fun lay in the running. We deny that the end justifies the means without ever stopping to consider that for practical purposes the End and the Means are one and the same thing. If there is to be any satisfaction in life it must come in transit, for who can tell when he will be struck down in mid-method?

  Walt Kelly

  Running, Fun, Mean

  14 Copy quote

• Left-wing social policies sicken our behavior and corrupt our culture. People bend principles and sacrifice integrity to get as much as they can from the government. Giveaway programs encourage every imaginable sort of cheating and dishonesty. Wheeling and dealing in food stamps is a way of life. Lying and fraud are commonplace. Whenever you're dependent on the money, the end justifies the means.

  James Cook

  Cheating, Lying, Integrity

  50 Copy quote