for Augustine it is acceptable to get one’s hands morally dirty in certain kinds of human relationships, as long as one keeps one’s heart pure.——Peter J. Burnell, ‘The Problem of Service to Unjust Regimes in Augustine’s City of God’, Journal of the History of Ideas 54,1993

毒亦许施彼，若此能利他。甘露不许施，若此损害他。若蛇啮人指，佛亦听则除。或佛教利他，逼恼亦可行。……合毒为治毒，如医方所说。苦灭恶亦尔，此言何相违？诸法心先行，以心为上首。以苦灭他恶，善心人何过？——龙树（Nāgārjuna）《宝行王正论》（陈 真谛译）