The End May Justify the Means
Reading edition
Whatever act is necessary to an end, and ascertained to be necessary and proportionate both to the end and the agent, takes its nature from that end. This premised, the proposition is innocent that ends may justify means. Remember, however, the important distinction: Unius facti diversi fines esse possunt: unius actionis non possunt. I have somewhere read this remark: Omne meritum est voluntarium, aut voluntate originis, aut origine voluntatis. Quaintly as this is expressed, it is well worth consideration, and gives the true meaning of Baxter's famous saying, "Hell is paved with good intentions."
Contents Contents, p.5