You've heard it. It’s a phrase that hits like a hammer. It feels heavy, almost dangerous. When someone says they’re going to get something done "by all means necessary," you usually stop what you’re doing and pay attention. But honestly, most people just use it to sound intense in a board meeting or a gym caption. They’re missing the weight of it.
The by all means necessary meaning is essentially an oath of absolute commitment. It means the goal is the only thing that matters. It implies that every obstacle—legal, social, physical, or moral—is secondary to the result. It’s about the "how" being irrelevant compared to the "what."
Where did this actually come from?
Most people think of Malcolm X. And they should. He famously used the variation "by any means necessary" in 1964, right after he left the Nation of Islam. He was speaking at the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. But he didn't invent the sentiment.
Frantz Fanon, the psychiatrist and revolutionary from Martinique, used a similar phrase in his 1961 book The Wretched of the Earth. For Fanon, it wasn't a cool slogan for a t-shirt. It was a literal description of how colonized people would have to reclaim their humanity. It was about survival. It was about the fact that if you are being crushed, you don't have the luxury of choosing only "polite" ways to push back.
The French Connection
Even earlier than Fanon, the French intellectual Jean-Paul Sartre used the phrase in his play Dirty Hands (Les Mains Sales). This is where the nuance starts to get really interesting. Sartre was obsessed with the idea of whether you can actually achieve a "pure" goal if you use "impure" methods. If you kill to bring peace, is it still peace? That’s the core of the by all means necessary meaning. It’s a philosophical trap.
It’s easy to say you’ll do whatever it takes. It’s a lot harder to live with what you did once the goal is reached.
The difference between "all" and "any"
We often swap these two. "By any means necessary" vs. "By all means necessary." Linguistically, they’re cousins. But they feel different in the mouth.
"Any" suggests a choice. Pick one, pick them all, it doesn't matter. It feels tactical.
"All" feels exhaustive. It implies a scorched-earth policy. If you say you’re going to succeed by all means necessary, you’re suggesting that if there are 1,000 ways to solve a problem, you are willing to try every single one of them until the problem is dead.
Why we get the meaning wrong in modern life
Look at LinkedIn. You’ll see some "hustle culture" influencer talking about hitting their Q4 targets by all means necessary.
Really?
Are you going to commit crimes? Are you going to skip sleep for a month? Are you going to alienate your entire family? Probably not. You’re just going to work some overtime and send a few more emails. When we use this phrase for trivial things, we dilute it. We turn a revolutionary's cry for justice into a middle-manager's motivational poster.
In a business context, the by all means necessary meaning usually translates to "within the budget and legal framework, but I want you to work hard." That’s a far cry from the original intent. The original intent was about breaking frameworks, not working within them.
When the phrase becomes a warning sign
In psychology or ethics, "by all means necessary" is a red flag for Machiavellianism. If a leader says this, it usually means the people under them are about to be treated like tools. In the study of ethics, we call this "consequentialism" taken to the extreme. The ends justify the means.
Niccolò Machiavelli gets a bad rap for this. In The Prince, he didn't actually say "the ends justify the means" word-for-word, but he certainly lived in that neighborhood. He argued that for a ruler to keep a state stable, they might have to act against faith, charity, and humanity.
Is that what people mean today? Usually no. But the baggage of the phrase stays there. It carries the ghost of every person who was ever stepped on to reach a goal.
Real world examples of the mindset
Let's look at sports. Michael Jordan.
Jordan is perhaps the ultimate "by all means necessary" figure in modern pop culture. He didn't just want to win; he wanted to destroy the opposition. If that meant bullying his teammates to make them tougher, he did it. If it meant playing through a massive fever (the "Flu Game"), he did it.
The cost? He wasn't always liked. He was feared. He was lonely.
This is the part of the by all means necessary meaning that the "grind" gurus forget to mention. There is always a bill to pay.
- The Political Revolutionary: Uses the phrase to signal that the status quo is so violent that any response is justified.
- The High-Stakes Entrepreneur: Uses it to signal that they are willing to risk their health, capital, and reputation for a breakthrough.
- The Parent: Might use it (mentally) when their child is in danger. "I will get my kid out of this building by all means necessary." Here, the phrase is at its most pure and most heroic.
The danger of the "Necessary" part
Who decides what is "necessary"?
That’s the loophole. "Necessary" is a subjective word. To a dictator, suppressing a protest is "necessary." To a whistleblower, leaking classified documents is "necessary."
When we use this phrase, we are usually giving ourselves a "get out of jail free" card for our behavior. We are saying, "I had to do it." But the reality is that we chose to do it because we valued the result more than the method.
Breaking down the grammar of desperation
It’s a phrase of desperation. You don't say you’ll do something by all means necessary when things are going well. You say it when you’re backed into a corner.
Think about the word "means." It refers to the agency or the instrument. In a literal sense, your "means" are your tools. If your tools aren't working, you look for new ones. "All means" suggests a total lack of restriction.
Why this phrase still trends
We live in a world that feels increasingly competitive. Whether it's the housing market, a job hunt, or social media clout, there's this underlying pressure to be ruthless. The by all means necessary meaning resonates because it feels like a superpower. It feels like permission to stop being "nice" and start being "effective."
But there’s a nuance people miss. True effectiveness often requires cooperation. Ruthlessness—using "all means"—often burns bridges that you might need to cross later.
Actionable ways to use the mindset (without being a jerk)
If you find yourself gravitating toward this phrase, it means you’re highly motivated. That’s good. But you need to refine the application.
Instead of a blanket "by all means necessary" approach, try these filters:
The Reversibility Test
Before you take a "necessary" action, ask: Is this reversible? If you’re going to offend a long-term partner or break a rule, can you fix it later? If the answer is no, you’re not using "all means," you’re using "final means."
The Definition of Success
Be honest about what "necessary" looks like. If your goal is to be a successful CEO, but you lose your health and family to get there, did you actually achieve the goal? Or did the "means" destroy the "end"?
Identify the Bottleneck
Usually, when people say "by all means necessary," they’re actually just frustrated because one specific thing isn't working. Instead of going nuclear, identify the one "mean" you haven't tried yet. Is it a difficult conversation? Is it admitting you were wrong? Sometimes the most "necessary" mean is the one we’re most afraid of.
Audit your vocabulary
Stop using the phrase for small stuff. Save it for the moments that truly define your life or your values. When you stop saying it about your morning workout, it starts to mean a lot more when you say it about your career or your family’s safety.
The takeaway on meaning
At its core, the by all means necessary meaning is about the refusal to accept defeat. It is a linguistic expression of an iron will.
But iron is brittle. It can snap.
The most successful people aren't the ones who use "all means" all the time. They are the ones who know exactly which "means" are required for the specific "end" they want. They don't use a sledgehammer to hang a picture frame, even if they're willing to use it to break down a wall.
If you’re going to adopt this phrase as a mantra, understand the history. Know that it came from places of deep struggle, from people like Malcolm X and Fanon who were fighting for the right to exist. When you use it in your own life, respect that weight. Use it to overcome your internal resistance, not to bulldoze the people around you.
What to do next
If you feel like you're stuck and "all means" is your only option, start by listing every single path you haven't taken yet. Often, we say "by all means necessary" when we've only tried three things.
- Write down five "out of the box" solutions to your current problem.
- Ask yourself which of those solutions you are avoiding because of ego, not because of a lack of resources.
- Execute the most difficult one first.
That is the true spirit of the phrase: doing the hard thing that needs to be done, rather than just talking about it.