End Justifies The Means Quotes

“A means can be justified only by its end. But the end in its turn needs to be justified.”
― Leon Trotsky, Their Morals and Ours: The Class Foundations of Moral Practice

“...his success in public relations had been due primarily to his masterful utilization of a single public relations technique: identifying himself with a popular cause. This technique was especially advantageous to him because his philosophy--that accomplishment, Getting Things Done, is the only thing that matters, that the end justifies any means, however ruthless--might not be universally popular. By keeping the public eye focused on the cause, the end, the ultimate benefit to be obtained, the technique kept the public eye from focusing on the methods by which the method was to be obtained.”
― Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

“I dispute the point that nuclear energy is 'clean' and 'cost-effective'. As I recall, when we first harnessed nuclear power it was to drop an atom bomb on a civilian population, not to save the environment. However, you must admit, the victors are never tried for war crimes.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly

“It is said that the end justifies the means, but that overlooks the crucial detail that only just means will culminate in a just end.”
― George Hammond

“It’s not that the means corrupt the ends. It’s that the ends never work, and that’s why they need brutal means.”
― Johan Norberg