Philosophical talk... "the end justifies the means" or "the means justifies the end" are like 2 sides of a coin, two different perspectives of life, like a half-filled cup, or a half-empty cup... You cannot say one is wrong or right... They are both correct based on what angle you are looking at it...
I have read this nice piece of work by Machiavelli. I like how you broke down the matter at hand in this post.
It should not be a thing to argue back and forth over. Well done!
Thanks!