What does ‘a means to an end’ mean and ‘the end justifies the means’ mean?

Question

That was a mouthful for a title, but yeah, basically what I wrote in the title, can anyone explain, I can’t wrap my head around it. And could you use an example please? That helps a lot. Thanks 🙂

Edit: thank you guys for responding so fast! I think I get it now 🙂 how would you use it in a sentence using your examples?

In: Other

Answer 1

Sometimes the end *does* justify the means, and sometimes it doesn’t.

If someone is trying to kill you, you are justified in using deadly force to stop him. If you think he’s merely trying to rob you, you aren’t.