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Who really said it

The ends justify the means

Not Machiavelli’s words — a proverb pinned on him Niccolò Machiavelli 1469–1527 · Florentine diplomat & author of ‘The Prince’
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

The blunt line “the ends justify the means” appears nowhere in The Prince or Machiavelli’s other works — Wikiquote lists it under “Misattributed” as “the most common mis-quotation attributed to Machiavelli” ↗. The closest he actually wrote is a narrower observation in Chapter XVIII that people “judge by the result.” The proverb’s real literary ancestor is Ovid.

Last verified 16 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed — copy with the correction

“The ends justify the means” Niccolò Machiavelli never wrote "the ends justify the means" — Wikiquote lists it as his most common misquotation. The phrase appears nowhere in The Prince; its nearest literary ancestor is Ovid's "exitus acta probat" (Heroides II.85). — Quotle.info

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In context

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Provenance

What Machiavelli actually wrote

Popularly credited to
The Prince
In his works?
No — the exact phrase appears nowhere
Nearest genuine line
The Prince, ch. XVIII — “one judges by the result”
Translation
W. K. Marriott, 1908 (public domain)
Literary ancestor
Ovid, Heroides II.85 — “exitus acta probat”

In the actions of all men, and especially of princes, which it is not prudent to challenge, one judges by the result. … Let a prince have the credit of conquering and holding his state, the means will always be considered honest, and he will be praised by everybody; because the vulgar are always taken by what a thing seems to be and by what comes of it. The real text vs. the slogan

The Prince, ch. XVIII (Marriott translation) — the closest genuine passage. Note it describes how people judge a ruler, and never states the slogan itself.

The Prince at Project Gutenberg (Marriott translation)

How we traced it

The English proverb “the ends justify the means” has no identifiable single author or first-publication work, so no copyright status can be asserted for the phrase itself. The genuine Chapter XVIII passage quoted here is from W. K. Marriott’s 1908 translation, which is public domain; Machiavelli’s original Italian (1513/1532) has been public domain for centuries.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

The misattribution

This is arguably the internet’s definitive Machiavelli misquote — short, cynical, and perfectly on-brand for his reputation, yet absent from everything he wrote.

Niccolò Machiavelli Not in his works

The sentence appears in no edition of The Prince or his other writings. Wikiquote files it under “Misattributed,” calling it “the most common mis-quotation attributed to Machiavelli, which is never found within his works” ↗.

A crude consequentialism Oversimplified

Even the thought is flattened. In Chapter XVIII Machiavelli says only that “one judges by the result” and that a victorious prince’s means “will always be considered honest” by the crowd — a description of public perception, not a doctrine that any end absolves any means ↗.

Ovid Classical source

The nearest documented origin of the sentiment is Ovid’s “exitus acta probat” (Heroides II.85, c. 10 BC). Wikiquote lists “The ends justify the means” as one of its variant translations ↗ — centuries before Machiavelli.

It is an anonymous proverb, not a Machiavelli quotation; the man himself wrote a narrower point about being judged by results ↗, and the sharper phrasing traces back to Ovid.

Context

Why it sticks to Machiavelli

The Prince’s reputation for cold pragmatism turned Machiavelli’s name into a magnet for any slogan about ruthless expediency — and “the ends justify the means” is the tidiest of them. But his actual claim in Chapter XVIII is descriptive, not a moral licence: he notes that observers “judge by the result,” so a prince who wins and holds his state will find “the means will always be considered honest” by the crowd.

That is a comment on how people react to success, not a philosophy that any goal excuses any method. The proverb flattens the hedge out of it — which is precisely why it travels so well and why it keeps getting hung on his name.

He said people judge by results — not that results absolve you.

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Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Power Justice

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Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Niccolò Machiavelli (Misattributed section)en.wikiquote.org

Lists “the end justifies the means” as the most common misquotation, never found in his works.
Ovid — ‘exitus acta probat’en.wikiquote.org

Sources the phrase to Heroides II.85 and gives “The ends justify the means” as a variant translation.
The Prince (Marriott translation)gutenberg.org

Full public-domain text; Chapter XVIII holds the genuine “judge by the result” passage.
Political misquotes: 10 things never actually saidcsmonitor.com

Fact-check confirming Machiavelli never said the line and quoting the real Chapter XVIII text.
Machiavelli said ‘the ends justify the means’ — fact or myth?factmyth.com

Explains the phrase is a paraphrase and unpacks the more nuanced Chapter XVIII argument.

The author

About Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli

1469–1527 · Florentine diplomat & author of The Prince

Niccolò Machiavelli was a Florentine diplomat, historian and political theorist whose 1513 treatise The Prince made his name a byword for cold, results-first statecraft. His actual argument in Chapter XVIII is subtler than the slogan attached to him: he observes that rulers are judged by outcomes, not that any outcome morally launders any method. That reputation for ruthlessness is exactly why the flattened proverb sticks to him.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, trans. W. K. Marriott (London: J. M. Dent, 1908), ch. XVIII — the nearest genuine passage; the exact proverb is not in the text. Classical antecedent: Ovid, Heroides II.85, “exitus acta probat.”

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘The ends justify the means’?” Last verified 16 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-ends-justify-the-means/

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