In chapter XVIII of "The Prince", the Florentine political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli wrote “in the actions of all men, and especially of princes, which it is not prudent to challenge, one judges by the result”. This concept is often summarized in the saying “the ends justify the means”. We may apply these words to the general attitude towards ESC Guidelines, i.e. it is generally not prudent to challenge the Guidelines upfront (and their authors, as well as the Society behind them), but rather wait for their application in clinical practice and judge them by their results.
