the end justifies the means

Etymology
Widely attributed to 's , which does reflect this philosophy but does not use the phrase in this wording. A possible source is 's  (ca. 10 BC), which says. However, its use there is quite likely to have an opposite meaning of outcome proving means were unjustified, based on its context.

Proverb

 * 1) 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.

Usage notes

 * Apart from the negation, a common retort is that immoral or violent means “corrupt the ends”.

Translations

 * Arabic: الْغَايَةُ تُبَرِّرُ الْوَسِيلَةَ
 * Bulgarian: целта́ оправда́ва сре́дствата
 * Catalan: els fins justifiquen els mitjans
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 只要目的正當，可以不擇手段
 * Czech: účel světí prostředky
 * Danish:
 * Dutch: het doel heiligt de middelen
 * Finnish: tarkoitus pyhittää keinot
 * French: ,
 * Galician: o fin xustifica os medios
 * Georgian:
 * German:
 * Greek:
 * Hebrew:, כָּל הָאֶמְצָעִים כְּשֵׁרִים
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic:
 * Indonesian: tujuan menghalalkan cara
 * Italian: il fine giustifica i mezzi
 * Japanese: 目的のためには手段を選ばない,, うそも方便
 * Korean: 목적이 수단을 정당화한다
 * Latin: exitus ācta probat
 * Macedonian: целта ги оправдува средствата
 * Malay: matlamat menghalalkan cara
 * Norwegian: målet helliggjør midlene
 * Persian: هدف وسیله را توجیه می‌کند
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese: os fins justificam os meios, não se faz omelete sem se quebrar alguns ovos
 * Romanian: scopul scuză mijloacele
 * Russian:
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: ци̑љ опра̀вда̄ва̄ срѐдство
 * Roman: cȋlj opràvdāvā srèdstvo
 * Slovak: účel svätí prostriedky
 * Spanish: el fin justifica los medios
 * Swedish: ändamålet helgar medlen
 * Turkish: amaca giden her yol mübahtır
 * Ukrainian: мета виправдовує засоби