Machiavelli placed a number of restrictions on evil actions. First, he specified that the only acceptable end was the stabilization & health of the state; individual power for its own sake is not an acceptable end & does not justify evil actions. Second, Machiavelli does not dispense entirely with morality nor advocate wholesale selfishness or degeneracy. Instead he clearly lays out his definition of, for example, the criteria for acceptable cruel actions (it must be swift, effective, & short-lived).