About this quote

Means don't wash off the ends. A liberty seized by slaughter or deceit arrives already carrying the habits that won it, ready to turn on the very people it was meant to free. How something is achieved becomes part of what it actually is.

When to use it

• A startup that wins market share by lying about rivals finds the same dishonesty poisoning its own team.
• Activists who refuse to smear opponents keep a credibility that outlasts the campaign itself.
• A movement that murders its way to power soon aims the same fear at its own citizens.