Your motive gives a name to your act.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) The intent behind an act determines its legal classification — the same physical deed may be lawful or unlawful depending on the motive that animates it.

Where this applies

• A man enters his neighbor's house to rescue a child from a fire — the entry is heroic, not trespassing, because his motive was to save a life.
• Cutting down a tree on someone else's property is timber theft if done to sell the wood, but justified if done in an emergency to clear a road for an ambulance.
• A surgeon who cuts into a patient performs a medical procedure; a stranger who does the same thing on the street commits assault — the motive names the act.