“A goal without a plan is just a wish”

“A goal without a plan is just a dream/wish” is a popular saying that has been printed on many images. The saying has been credited to French author Antoine de Saint Exupéry (1900-1944) since about 2006, but there’s no evidence that he ever said it.
 
“There is an old saying that a goal without a plan is a dream” was cited in a 1976 newspaper advertisement for the Dale Carnegie Course. “A goal without a plan is only a wish” has been cited in print since at least 1984. The authorship of the saying remains unknown.
 
“Goals that are not written down are just wishes” is a similar saying.
 
   
Wikiquote: Antoine de Saint Exupéry
Antoine de Saint Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944) was a French writer, poet and aviator.
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Disputed
A goal without a plan is just a wish.
. The earliest appearance yet located of this statement is in 50 Ways to Lose Ten Pounds (1995) by Joan Horbiak, p. 95, where it is quoted as an anonymous proverb. It seems to have circulated as such for a few years before it began to be attributed to Saint Exupéry around 2007.
 
24 October 1976, Greensboro (NC) Daily News, pg. A5, col. 1 ad:
There is an old saying that a goal without a plan is a dream.
(Dale Carnegie Course—ed.)
   
Google Books
Southern Florist and Nurseryman
Volume 92, Issues 42-52
1980
Pg. 20:
They back their goals with specific plans for achieving them, for a goal without a plan is just a dream.
 
Google Books
Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 1982:
Personality-Current Theory and Research
By Monte M. Page and Lawrence A. Pervin, et al.
Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press
1983
Pg. 16:
A goal with a well-developed plan perhaps most clearly expresses purpose and intention, whereas a goal without a plan may be what we call fantasy.
 
19 August 1984, Mobile (AL) Press Register,“Will power: Wise estate planning can save your loved ones a lot of grief” by Brightman Brock, pg. 1-D, col. 5:
A goal without a plan is only a wish, and a plan itself is only a wish unless it is executed.
 
19 February 1990, Dayton (OH) Daily News, City, pg. 7:
SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER OF DAYTON AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE will present a Business Planning Course for Start-Ups entitled A Goal Without A Plan is Only a Wish from 6:30-9 p.m. Wednesdays from Feb. 28 to April 18 at the Dayton Convention Center, Fifth and Main streets.
     
9 January 1994, Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette, “Ramblin’: Look for cafes with lots of calendars,” pg. 18A, col. 3:
And in March, “A goal without a plan is a dream.”
 
Google Books
50 Ways to Lose Ten Pounds
By Joan Horbiak, Duke University Diet and Fitness Center.
Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International
1995
Pg. 98:
A goal without a plan is just a wish…and we all know that wishing doesn’t make it so.
 
Google Books
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There:
New Maxims to Refresh and Enrich Your Life
Richard M. Eyre
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
1995
Pg. 65:
“A goal without a plan is only a wish.”
 
14 August 2000, Winnipeg (Manitoba) Free Press, “Active Living” by Leesa Dahl, Life, pg. C1, cols. 2-3:
On the way home from her last meeting with sports psychologist Tom Patrick, the East St. Paul teacher-librarian caught sight of a sign that sums up nicely her experience with the Free Press Get Fit With Us project. It read: A Goal Without a Plan Is Just A Wish.
 
TMC News
[September 01, 2006] 
Running a Business is Easy, Right?
By TMCnet Special Guest
Larry Kesslin, President, 4-Profit
(...)
Remember, a goal without a plan is just a dream!
 
Google Books
Do You Want to Be a Leader?
By Paul J. Spiewak
Victoria, BC: Trafford
2006
Pg. 206:
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY 1900- 1944
French Author The Little Prince