What does 'the ends justify the means' mean?

Question

What does 'the ends justify the means' mean?

Answer 1

well it means, is what you are doing worth it in the long run, to get what you need or want in the end? For example, you want to have more money in your pocket, does robbing a convenient store and potentially hurting somebody get justified by you having a few extra bucks?

another example, somebody kidnaps your child.

Would getting your child back justify you killing the kidnapper?

Its really just a quote that makes you think about your goals, and how youre going about achieving them. Its something alot of people should be asking themselves but dont.

Answer 2

It means that it is okay to do ANYTHING to get the result that you want.

Answer 3

It's an expressions that's used when your back is against the wall and there's no time for niceities or finesse. You have a target and you must acheive it any way, any how, any cost.

The end result is so important that it does not matter how you get there.

In my line of work we'd cut corners on product testing to have something to show the customer at a milestone project meeting.

Or, if we had a computer that was down and a customer's business was at risk, we'd maybe even scrap one of our machines for parts to get the system running again

(Later of course we'd take the system down in a controlled way and install new components)

Answer 4

Basically means that whatever u do there is a end to it.