The end justifies the means - Цель оправдывает средства
The end justifies the means w as the motto of the
Jesuits, a militant catholic order. The order of the
Jesuits was founded by Ignatius Loyola with the aim
of defending the Roman Catholic Church against opposition and propagating its faith among the heathen.
The order has a very strict organization, it is governed
by a “ General” responsible only to the Pope; its members are learned men, rigorously trained and bound to
poverty, chastity and obedience. The Jesuits became
very powerful politically in the 17th century.
The order of the Jesuits justified any means of attaining a political end, including homicide, fraud, espionage. It continues its activity in our days as one of
the religious orders of the Vatican. The actual words
The end justifies the means probably belong to Machiavelli, a Florentine political philosopher, author of
a famous and influential treatise on statecraft The
Prince (1513) advocating the principle that any political
means, however unscrupulous, are justifiable if they
strengthen the power of a State.
In the modern language the words mean ‘a good
purpose may justify wrongdoing’.
«Цель оправдывает средства» — девиз Ордена иезуитов. Орден иезуитов был основан Лойолой в 1534 году для защиты интересов римской церкви во времена Реформации. Мораль иезуитов оправдывала любые средства для достижения поставленной цели, вплоть до убийства. Сходные мысли высказывал итальянский писатель и политический деятель Макиавелли в трактате «Государь».