The Quotes canon
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Browse all 10,075 quotes or apply filters in different categories to narrow your search.
End justifies the means8 quotes
I must be cruel only to be kind. — William Shakespeare · 1616For a good cause, wrongdoing is virtuous. — Publilius Syrus · 43 BCThe end justifies the means. — Hermann Busenbaum · 1650A means can be justified only by its end. But the end in its turn needs to be justified. — Leon Trotsky · 1938It is the object only of war that makes it honorable. And if there was ever a just war since the world began, it is this in which America is now engaged. — Thomas Paine · 1778The end cannot justify the means, for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced. — Aldous Huxley · 1937All 8 quotes →Justifications and rationales4 quotes
I must be cruel only to be kind. — William Shakespeare · 1616The end justifies the means. — Hermann Busenbaum · 1650A means can be justified only by its end. But the end in its turn needs to be justified. — Leon Trotsky · 1938As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy. — Christopher Dawson · 1942Moral relativism2 quotes
For a good cause, wrongdoing is virtuous. — Publilius Syrus · 43 BCThe end justifies the means. — Hermann Busenbaum · 1650Moral theory2 quotes
The end justifies the means. — Hermann Busenbaum · 1650The end cannot justify the means, for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced. — Aldous Huxley · 1937Morality2 quotes
The end justifies the means. — Hermann Busenbaum · 1650The end cannot justify the means, for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced. — Aldous Huxley · 1937American Revolution1 quote
It is the object only of war that makes it honorable. And if there was ever a just war since the world began, it is this in which America is now engaged. — Thomas Paine · 1778Cruelty1 quote
I must be cruel only to be kind. — William Shakespeare · 1616Just war1 quote
It is the object only of war that makes it honorable. And if there was ever a just war since the world began, it is this in which America is now engaged. — Thomas Paine · 1778Kindness1 quote
I must be cruel only to be kind. — William Shakespeare · 1616Wrongdoing1 quote
For a good cause, wrongdoing is virtuous. — Publilius Syrus · 43 BC