"The trouble with not having a goal is that you can…

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score” is a motivational saying that has been printed on many images. The saying is from Bill Copeland, a columnist for 51 years for the e Sarasota (FL) Journal and later the Herald- Tribune. The exact date of the column is not known, but Copeland was credited in another newspaper of March 27, 1974.

Copeland wrote “never scoring,” but the quote frequent ends with “never score.”

27 March 1974, Reno (NV) Evening Gazette, “Specific goals required from teachers, schools” by Ernest L. Newton, pg. 22, cols. 7-8:
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never scoring,” says Bill Copeland in the Sarasota Journal.

18 April 1974, Centre Daily Times (State College, PA), “Good Evening!,” pg. 1, col. 1:
ADVICE: The trouble with not having a goal Bill Copeland warns, is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never scoring.

Google Books
Reader’s Digest Quotable Quotes:
Wit and Wisdom for All Occasions from America’s Most Popular Magazine
By Reader’s Digest Association.
Pleasantville, NY: Reader’s Digest
1997
Pg. 20:
The trouble with not having a 9 goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never scoring. — BILL COPELAND

Google Books
Motivation For Success:
The Road Map To Creating Your Own Path To Success
By Larry Freeman
Published by author
2014
Pg. 11:
Personal goals are important because: “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” -Bill Copeland

Google Books
6 Successful Techniques for Personal Growth
By Victor Guembes
Lulu Press (Lulu.com)
2016
Pg. ?:
American poet Bill Copeland said: “The trouble with no having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score,” which pretty much translates to a waste of time if you have no goals.

Reddit—Quotes
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” -Bill Copeland (self.quotes)
submitted May 8, 2017 by noonecudsaveme

Twitter
JoAnn Corley-Schwarzkopf
@joanncorley
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” - Bill Copeland
1:00 PM - 8 May 2018

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field”