Friday, November 3, 2017

meaning in context - You are more concerned about the means rather than the ends.



"You are more concerned about the means rather than the ends."


What does the sentence means?



Answer



This appears to be based on the common English saying:



The ends justify the means.




What this means is that somebody believes that the results or goal of doing something (the "ends") are more important than what one does in order to get there (the "means").


Specifically, this phrase is often used when people believe that it's OK to do some bad things if it helps to get closer to doing something good at the end of the process. (A classic example would be a property developer who thinks it's OK to harass or intimidate residents of old buildings to get them to move out, because then they can rebuild the whole neighborhood into a nicer place.)


In the case of your phrase, this common saying is turned around:



You are more concerned about the means rather than the ends.



This appears to say that somebody cares more about how people are getting something done than about the ultimate goals or results.


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