Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Friedman warns that judging policies by intentions instead of outcomes is a major mistake.
In plain terms
Judge policies by results, not intentions.
What can you take from it?
Intentions do not guarantee successful outcomes.

Where it applies

  • policy analysis
  • decision making
  • project evaluation

Putting it to work

  • evaluate outcomes
  • assess real impact

Questions to consider

  • Should we judge by intent or result?
  • How do we measure success?

Another view

Sometimes intentions signal values even if results fail.

More from Milton Friedman

  1. I say thank God for government waste. If government is doing bad things, it's only the waste that prevents the harm from being greater.

    Permalink to quote #6
  2. Industrial progress, mechanical improvement, all of the great wonders of the modern era have meant little to the wealthy. The rich in ancient Greece would have…

    Permalink to quote #8
  3. I want people to take thought about their condition and to recognize that the maintainence of a free society is a very difficult and complicated thing and it r…

    Permalink to quote #5

Related quotes

  1. No matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat.

    Deng XiaopingDeng Xiaoping quote #3
  2. Free trade is not a principle; it is an expedient.

    Benjamin DisraeliBenjamin Disraeli quote #5
  3. No policy is worth anything outside of reality.

    Charles de GaulleCharles de Gaulle quote #12