Means Quotes
Quotes tagged as "means"
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“The end justifies the means. Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to get the right result.”
― Splitter
― Splitter

“Reader: Will you not admit that you are arguing against yourself? You know that what the English obtained in their own country they obtained by using brute force. I know you have argued that what they have obtained is useless, but that does not affect my argument. They wanted useless things and they got them. My point is that their desire was fulfilled. What does it matter what means they adopted? Why should we not obtain our goal, which is good, by any means whatsoever, even by using violence? Shall I think of the means when I have to deal with a thief in the house? My duty is to drive him out anyhow. You seem to admit that we have received nothing, and that we shall receive nothing by petitioning. Why, then, may we do not so by using brute force? And, to retain what we may receive we shall keep up the fear by using the same force to the extent that it may be necessary. You will not find fault with a continuance of force to prevent a child from thrusting its foot into fire. Somehow or other we have to gain our end.
Editor: Your reasoning is plausible. It has deluded many. I have used similar arguments before now. But I think I know better now, and I shall endeavour to undeceive you. Let us first take the argument that we are justified in gaining our end by using brute force because the English gained theirs by using similar means. It is perfectly true that they used brute force and that it is possible for us to do likewise, but by using similar means we can get only the same thing that they got. You will admit that we do not want that. Your belief that there is no connection between the means and the end is a great mistake. Through that mistake even men who have been considered religious have committed grievous crimes. Your reasoning is the same as saying that we can get a rose through planting a noxious weed. If I want to cross the ocean, I can do so only by means of a vessel; if I were to use a cart for that purpose, both the cart and I would soon find the bottom. "As is the God, so is the votary", is a maxim worth considering. Its meaning has been distorted and men have gone astray. The means may be likened to a seed, the end to a tree; and there is just the same inviolable connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree. I am not likely to obtain the result flowing from the worship of God by laying myself prostrate before Satan. If, therefore, anyone were to say : "I want to worship God; it does not matter that I do so by means of Satan," it would be set down as ignorant folly. We reap exactly as we sow. The English in 1833 obtained greater voting power by violence. Did they by using brute force better appreciate their duty? They wanted the right of voting, which they obtained by using physical force. But real rights are a result of performance of duty; these rights they have not obtained. We, therefore, have before us in English the force of everybody wanting and insisting on his rights, nobody thinking of his duty. And, where everybody wants rights, who shall give them to whom? I do not wish to imply that they do no duties. They don't perform the duties corresponding to those rights; and as they do not perform that particular duty, namely, acquire fitness, their rights have proved a burden to them. In other words, what they have obtained is an exact result of the means they adapted. They used the means corresponding to the end. If I want to deprive you of your watch, I shall certainly have to fight for it; if I want to buy your watch, I shall have to pay you for it; and if I want a gift, I shall have to plead for it; and, according to the means I employ, the watch is stolen property, my own property, or a donation. Thus we see three different results from three different means. Will you still say that means do not matter?”
―
Editor: Your reasoning is plausible. It has deluded many. I have used similar arguments before now. But I think I know better now, and I shall endeavour to undeceive you. Let us first take the argument that we are justified in gaining our end by using brute force because the English gained theirs by using similar means. It is perfectly true that they used brute force and that it is possible for us to do likewise, but by using similar means we can get only the same thing that they got. You will admit that we do not want that. Your belief that there is no connection between the means and the end is a great mistake. Through that mistake even men who have been considered religious have committed grievous crimes. Your reasoning is the same as saying that we can get a rose through planting a noxious weed. If I want to cross the ocean, I can do so only by means of a vessel; if I were to use a cart for that purpose, both the cart and I would soon find the bottom. "As is the God, so is the votary", is a maxim worth considering. Its meaning has been distorted and men have gone astray. The means may be likened to a seed, the end to a tree; and there is just the same inviolable connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree. I am not likely to obtain the result flowing from the worship of God by laying myself prostrate before Satan. If, therefore, anyone were to say : "I want to worship God; it does not matter that I do so by means of Satan," it would be set down as ignorant folly. We reap exactly as we sow. The English in 1833 obtained greater voting power by violence. Did they by using brute force better appreciate their duty? They wanted the right of voting, which they obtained by using physical force. But real rights are a result of performance of duty; these rights they have not obtained. We, therefore, have before us in English the force of everybody wanting and insisting on his rights, nobody thinking of his duty. And, where everybody wants rights, who shall give them to whom? I do not wish to imply that they do no duties. They don't perform the duties corresponding to those rights; and as they do not perform that particular duty, namely, acquire fitness, their rights have proved a burden to them. In other words, what they have obtained is an exact result of the means they adapted. They used the means corresponding to the end. If I want to deprive you of your watch, I shall certainly have to fight for it; if I want to buy your watch, I shall have to pay you for it; and if I want a gift, I shall have to plead for it; and, according to the means I employ, the watch is stolen property, my own property, or a donation. Thus we see three different results from three different means. Will you still say that means do not matter?”
―

“For these treasures, and everything that he collected in his lovely house, were to be to him means of forgetfulness, modes by which he could escape, for a season, from the fear that seemed to him at times to be almost too great to be borne.”
― The Picture of Dorian Gray
― The Picture of Dorian Gray

“For their never-ending endeavours to obtain or retain wealth, countries desperately need companies, because they鈥攗nlike most human beings鈥攈ave the means of production, and human beings, because they鈥攗nlike all companies鈥攈ave the means of reproduction.”
― The Use and Misuse of Children
― The Use and Misuse of Children

“Many millions of pregnancies鈥攎any if not most of which have each led to the birth of at least one child鈥攚ere each used as nothing but a conspicuous means to a secret end called the evasion of abortion.”
― The Use and Misuse of Children
― The Use and Misuse of Children

“...we cannot fail to recognise the influence which the progressive control over natural forces exerts on the social relationships between men, since men always place their newly won powers at the service of their aggressiveness, and use them against one another.”
― New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
― New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
“And yet, what seems to be the most intimidating now is not an end in itself, but only a means to a greater end. It must be achieved not because it will mark the end of your struggles, but the beginning of your journey towards the real destination.
Remember, this end is but a means.”
―
Remember, this end is but a means.”
―

“Evil means, he insisted, corrupt and degrade not only the purposes for which they are
undertaken but also the persons who stoop to such means. Overcoming the urge to resort to such means is hardest when one aims to rectify past injustices. It is because 鈥榟ate the sin and not the sinner鈥� is a precept so rarely practiced that 鈥榯he poison of hatred spreads in the world”
― Gandhi: An Autobiography
undertaken but also the persons who stoop to such means. Overcoming the urge to resort to such means is hardest when one aims to rectify past injustices. It is because 鈥榟ate the sin and not the sinner鈥� is a precept so rarely practiced that 鈥榯he poison of hatred spreads in the world”
― Gandhi: An Autobiography

“To a versifier, sounds are the means and the aim; a poet travels toward the aim using sounds.”
― Serbian Satire and Aphorisms
― Serbian Satire and Aphorisms

“English: "Means are limit of consequences."
膶esky: 鈥濸rost艡edky jsou limitem n谩sledk暖.”
― Vtiposcifilo-z/s-ofie
膶esky: 鈥濸rost艡edky jsou limitem n谩sledk暖.”
― Vtiposcifilo-z/s-ofie

“Her flippant remark about seeing other people had been so far off base he considered the聽comment completely AWOL.鈥澛�”
― Catch .22
― Catch .22

“As pragmatic as Kitan was in his daily means of execution, he had an inner drive that was starry-eyed and childlike.”
― The Conjurer
― The Conjurer

“At the core,鈥� means,鈥� is an implementation and capability is an abstraction.”
― Digital Capability: Building Lego Like Capability Into Business Competency
― Digital Capability: Building Lego Like Capability Into Business Competency

“Someone once said that 鈥榯he end justifies the means鈥�. And as I think about that, I鈥檓 not certain that any kind of 鈥榤eans鈥� that are justified will take me to any kind of 鈥榚nd鈥� that I want to be at in the first place.”
―
―

“Weeds spring up where they are not even sown. So it is with love too. Love takes its own time to bloom in a man鈥檚 life. It does not work on his schedule. It feels no need to take into account his situation or his means or state of mind, just 鈥榟appens鈥� when it has found its right time and when the flower of love springs up, it makes sure the man is coerced to alter the course of his life.”
― Game of Big Numbers
― Game of Big Numbers

“In many if not most cases we truly believe that what is merely a means is really an end.”
― On Friendship: A Satirical Essay
― On Friendship: A Satirical Essay
“Relationships are the Ends, Not the Means.”
― You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles And Practices
― You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned: John Wooden's Teaching Principles And Practices

“Ever 'habiting' and never 'inhabiting' is a bad habit.
鈥o way to live.
Habits are means, not ends.
Don鈥檛 allow habits to become ends unto themselves.
Get beyond habits, not behind.”
― Anti-Time Management: Reclaim Your Time and Revolutionize Your Results with the Power of Time Tipping
鈥o way to live.
Habits are means, not ends.
Don鈥檛 allow habits to become ends unto themselves.
Get beyond habits, not behind.”
― Anti-Time Management: Reclaim Your Time and Revolutionize Your Results with the Power of Time Tipping
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