Good Intentions, meetUnintended Consequences

Good intentions are not good enough, and we should always be humble and accept the possibility of being wrong. The lesson of the law of "unintended consequences" of our previous policies is to realize in our current policies that ends never justify the means.

Pragmatic reasons for any policy must always be consistent with moral rationale. If bad means appear to achieve good ends in the short term, then it is simply that we have failed to appreciate the real costs which in fact outweigh the presumed benefits.

~ Prof. Abdullahi An-Na'im, Emory University Law School, cited

by William Fisher in "Charlie Wilson's War, Act Two"