Machiavelli — "In the actions of men, and especially of princes, from which there is no appeal,…"
In the actions of men, and especially of princes, from which there is no appeal, the end justifies the means.
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More from Machiavelli
"I say that there are three kinds of brains: one that understands things by itself, one that can appreciate what others understand, and one that understands neither by itself nor through others."
"Because there are three ways of holding conquered states that are accustomed to living under their own laws and in freedom: the first is to ruin them, the next is to reside there in person, the third …"
"The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar."
"A man who is used to acting with caution, when circumstances require him to act with impetuosity, cannot change his nature."
"No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution."
About Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Florentine diplomat and political theorist whose The Prince (written 1513) became the founding text of political realism and gave us the adjective 'Machiavellian.' Closely associated with Francesco Guicciardini (fellow Florentine political analyst and historian). For an intellectual contrast, see Erasmus of Rotterdam, Dutch humanist and The Education of a Christian Prince author (1516) — Erasmus's princely-instruction manual was published three years after Machiavelli's, for the same European audience, and is the explicit Christian-virtue alternative to Machiavellian power-realism. The cleanest 'realism vs idealism' founding pairing in modern political theory.