Quotes about plan
page 4

“So then I though I'd make some plans, but Fire thought she'd really rather be Water instead…”

Tori Amos (1963) American singer

Water

“It was just one of those things," I said, "You know, that just happen. You don't think or plan. You just do it.”

Sarah Dessen book The Truth About Forever

Source: The Truth About Forever

Thinking

“really important meetings are planned by the souls
long before the bodies see each other.”

Paulo Coelho book Eleven Minutes

Source: Eleven Minutes

Soul

“Honey, I plan to marry you the moment the ink is dry on that death certificate.”

Sara Gruen book Water for Elephants

Source: Water for Elephants

Death

“It is too late."

The old man shook his head. "It is never too late or too soon. It is when it is supposed to be."

He smiled. "There is a plan, Dor.”

Mitch Albom (1958) American author

Source: The Time Keeper

Smile

“Come now, my child, if we were planning to harm you, do you think we'd be lurking here beside the path in the very darkest part of the forest?”

Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972) American writer and poet

Thinking, Parting

“Tavi grinned. "Are you with me?"
"The plan is insane," Ehren said. "YOU are insane." He looked around the inside of the tent. "I'll need some pants.”

Jim Butcher Captain's Fury

Source: Captain's Fury

“Now, if you two will excuse us, we'll get back to the relatively simple business of planning a war.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Variant: Now, if you two will excuse us, we'll get back to the relatively simple buisness of planning a war," he said.
-Baron Arald
Source: The Burning Bridge

War, Business

“Yesterday when we went over the plan again and again, I never thought about Grandad showing up. Because I'm an idiot, basically--an idiot with poor planning skills. Of course he's here. Where else would he be?

Seriously, what else could go wrong?”

Holly Black book White Cat

Source: White Cat

“I have no plans to call on you, Clarice, the world being more interesting with you in it.”

Thomas Harris The Silence of the Lambs

Source: The Silence of the Lambs

World

“Oh I don't plan on getting married. It's a legalized form of prostitution.”

Candace Bushnell book The Carrie Diaries

Source: The Carrie Diaries

“Hey, you freakin' bastard," I breathed. "You hit me again and I'll take care of your family planning.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Every Which Way But Dead

Family

“I planned my whole future around Adam," she said now, quietly. "And now I have nothing." "No," I told her, "now you just don't have Adam. There's a big difference, Lissa. You just can't see it yet.”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

Future

“Theta blew out another plume of cigarette smoke. “Not interested. Love’s messy, kiddo. Let those other girls get moony-eyed and goofy. Me? I got plans.”

Libba Bray book The Diviners

Source: The Diviners

Love, Girl

“You can't really succeed with a novel anyway; they're too big. It's like city planning. You can't plan a perfect city because there's too much going on that you can't take into account. You can, however, write a perfect sentence now and then. I have.”

Gore Vidal (1925–2012) American writer

Perfection

“Was this all part of your plan as my lawyer? I don't recall explosive escapes being part of the legal training."
"Well, I'm sure it wasn't part of Damon Taru's legal training.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

Parting, Training

“The mind thinks thoughts that we don't plan. It's not as if we say, 'At 9:10 I'm going to be filled with self-hatred.”

Sharon Salzberg (1952) American writer

Thinking

“Every plan is a house of cards.”

Holly Black book The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Source: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Housing

“But on that sunlit Sunday, Alexander knew nothing, thought nothing, imagined nothing. He forgot Dimitri and war and the Soviet Union and escape plans, and even America, and crossed the street for Tatiana Metanova.”

Paullina Simons book Tatiana and Alexander

Source: Tatiana and Alexander

War, Imagination

“What's plan b?'
'We all die now.'
'What's plan c?”

Joss Whedon (1964) American director, writer, and producer for television and film

Source: Astonishing X-Men, Volume 4: Unstoppable

“I'm planning a catastrophe.”

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian poet and singer-songwriter

Source: The Favorite Game

“Though we may not be able to see His purpose or His plan, the Lord of heaven is on His throne and in firm control of the universe and our lives.”

Max Lucado (1955) American clergyman and writer

Source: America Looks Up: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing

Universe

“To live your best life now, you must learn to trust God’s timing, you may not think He’s working, but you can be sure that right now, behind the scenes, God is arranging all the pieces to come together to work out His plan for your life.”

Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author

Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

Life, God, Thinking, Learning

“I do plan on saying one or two things to him when we're allowed an hour for goodbyes. To let him know how essential he's been to me all these years. How better my life has been for knowing him.”

Suzanne Collins book Catching Fire

Source: Catching Fire

Life

“But how did you know where we were?" Annabeth asked.

Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami.”

Rick Riordan book The Sea of Monsters

Source: The Sea of Monsters

Sea

“Lying on stained wretched sheets with the bleeding virgin,
we could plan a murder…or start a religion.”

Jim Morrison (1943–1971) lead singer of The Doors

Source: An American Prayer (1978)

Religion, Lying

“All human plans [are] subject to ruthless revision by Nature, or Fate, or whatever one preferred to call the powers behind the Universe.”

Arthur C. Clarke book 2010: Odyssey Two

Source: 2010: Odyssey Two

Fate, Nature, Universe

“… have a smile for everyone you meet and a plan to kill them.”

Brad Thor book The Apostle

Source: The Apostle

Smile

“It is an axiom in my mind, that our liberty can never be safe but in the hands of the people themselves, and that too of the people with a certain degree of instruction. This it is the business of the State to effect, and on a general plan.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Letter to http://www.familytales.org/dbDisplay.php?id=ltr_thj1489 George Washington (4 January 1786) <br class="br">1780s <br class="br">Source: Letters of Thomas Jefferson

People, Business

“One possible reason why things aren't going according to plan is that there never was a plan.”

Ashleigh Brilliant (1933) American author and cartoonist

“Jamie: You know what I figured out today?
Landon: What?
Jamie: Maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself. Like this journey never ends. Like you were sent to me because I'm sick. To help me through all this. You're my angel.”

Nicholas Sparks book A Walk to Remember

Variant: Maybe God has a bigger plan for me that i had for myself,
likes, this journey never ends,
likes, you were sent to me because I'm sick, to help me through all this,
you're my angel!
Source: A Walk to Remember

God, Angels, Help

“In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)

Quoted in Six Crises (1962) by Richard Nixon, and Quotation number 18611 in The Columbia World of Quotations http://www.bartleby.com/66/11/18611.html <br class="br">1960s

“Lemme guess," Regin said. "You had your introductory spiel all planned, but rational thought deserted you when you saw me stroll in braless.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Dreams of a Dark Warrior

“Never forgive, never forget. Do it once and do it right. You reap what you sow. Plans go to hell as soon as the first shot is fired. Protect and serve. Never off duty.”

Lee Child book 61 Hours

Source: 61 Hours

Forgiveness, Hell, Forgetting

“If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build, end up building us.”

Jack Canfield (1944) American writer

The Power of Focus: How to Hit Your Business, Personal and Financial Targets with Confidence and Certainty

“It’s a big raised platform at the end of the square, with steps running up to it.”
Like a stage?” Evanlyn suggested. “Maybe they’re planning to put on a play?”
Or an execution,” Horace said.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: Erak's Ransom

“The small hopes and plans and pleasures of children should be tenderly respected by grown-up people, and never rudely thwarted or ridiculed.”

Louisa May Alcott book Little Men

Source: Little Men

Children, People, Pleasure, Hope

“To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Heart

“Escape plan #5: Open an alpaca ranch in Texas, one that requires all blond-haired, brown-eyed, brainy girls to wear sexy cowgirl outfits.”

Richelle Mead book The Fiery Heart

Source: The Fiery Heart

Girl

“That's the thing about being the product of happily marries parents, You grow up thinking the fairy tale is real, and more than that, you think you're entitled to live it. So far, though, it wasn't working out as planned.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Choice

Source: The Choice

Thinking, Parent

“If there was one truth Evie had learned in her short life, it was that forgiveness was easier to seek than permission. She didn’t plan to ask for either one.”

Libba Bray book The Diviners

Source: The Diviners

Life, Truth, Forgiveness, Learning

“God’s plan and His ways of working out His plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand. We must learn to trust when we don’t understand.”

Jerry Bridges (1929–2016) American writer

Source: Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts

God, Way, Understanding, Learning

“Action alone is the tinder which ignites the map, the parchment, this scroll, my dreams, my plans, my goals, into a living force.”

Og Mandino book The Greatest Salesman in the World

Source: The Greatest Salesman in the World (1968), Ch. 16 : The Scroll Marked IX, p. 93.
Context: I will act now. Never has there been a map, however carefully executed to detail and scale, which carried its owner over even one inch of ground. Never has there been a parchment of law, however fair, which prevented one crime. Never has there been a scroll, even such as the one I hold, which earned so much as a penny or produced a single word of acclamation. Action alone is the tinder which ignites the map, the parchment, this scroll, my dreams, my plans, my goals, into a living force. Action is the food and drink which will nourish my success.
I will act now.

Dreams

“To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.

(From an introductory speech at a session of the Académie Française, December 24, 1896)”

Anatole France (1844–1924) French writer

Source: Works of Anatole France

Dreams

“In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance - when you least expect it - sets you on a course that you never planned, into a future you never imagined.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Lucky One

Source: The Lucky One

Imagination, Chance, Future

“And the mind that has conceived a plan of living must never lose sight of the chaos against which that pattern was conceived. That goes for societies as well as for individuals.”

Ralph Ellison book Invisible Man

Epilogue.
Source: Invisible Man (1952)

“Not like a heart, which let people in without permission, held them in a special place she never had any say in and then yearned for them to remain there longer than they planned.”

Cecelia Ahern book If You Could See Me Now

Source: If You Could See Me Now

People, Heart

“It's ideal really. They will come up with a plan. No one will like it. Everyone will feel they have been treated unfairly, but will be happy that their neighbors feel the same. And that is the nature of compromise. Now let's go eat an awful lot.”

Suzanne Collins (1962) American television writer and novelist

Feeling, Nature, Happiness

“… nothing ever happens quickly (except when it does). Nothing is ever, ever easy (except when it is). And, most of all, nothing ever goes perfectly according to plan (except in the movies).”

Ally Carter book Only the Good Spy Young

Source: Only the Good Spy Young

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

God

“… the plan will happen in spite of us, not because of us.”

Melody Beattie (1948) American writer

Source: The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency

“Monsters exist because they are part of the divine plan, and in the horrible features of those same monsters the power of the creator is revealed.”

Umberto Eco book The Name of the Rose

Source: The Name of the Rose

Parting

“If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”

Harvey Mackay (1932) American businessman and journalist

“Annabeth?” Percy said again. “You’re planning something. You’ve got thatlook.”
“I don’t have anlook.”
“Yeah, you totally do. Your eyebrows knit together and your lips press together and—”
“Do you have a pen?” she asked him.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

“Do you truly believe that life is fair, Senor de la Vega?
-No, maestro, but I plan to do everything in my power to make it so.”

Isabel Allende book Zorro

Source: Zorro

Life

“… when your heart changes, you change, and you have to make new plans.”

Katherine Hannigan (1962) American artist and novelist

Source: Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World

Change, Heart

“Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

“When ours are interrupted, his are not. His plans are proceeding exactly as scheduled, moving us always (including those minutes or hours or years which seem most useless or wasted or unendurable).”

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary

Source: Passion and Purity: Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christ's Control

“You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the earth by the Master Craftsman.”

Max Lucado (1955) American clergyman and writer

Source: The Christmas Candle

“When we are sure that we are on the right road there is no need to plan our journey too far ahead. No need to burden ourselves with doubts and fears as to the obstacles that may bar our progress. We cannot take more than one step at a time.”

Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American writer

Fear, Time

“And even, if circumstances required, a contingency plan for his contingency plan's contingency plan.”

Frank Beddor Seeing Redd

Source: Seeing Redd

“No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. Whether as seen carving the lines of the mountains with glaciers, or gathering matter into stars, or planning the movements of water, or gardening — still all is Beauty!”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

26 June 1875, page 208
John of the Mountains, 1938

God, Beauty, Mountain, Star

“Plans let past drives the future.”

Jason Fried software entrepreneur

Rework

Past, Future

“I'm planning, you see, to try to confine myself to the truth. That's hard for an old, inveterate fantasy martyr and [illegible] liar who has never hesitated to give truth the form he felt the occasion demanded.”

Ingmar Bergman (1918–2007) Swedish filmmaker

On his plans for his autobiography Laterna Magica, as quoted in "Who is he really?" http://www.ingmarbergman.se/universe.asp?guid=4F72F9D3-43BB-405D-B42B-3D091B8FAF3A <br class="br">Source: The Magic Lantern

Truth

“The intention that man should be happy is not in the plan of Creation.”

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian neurologist known as the founding father of psychoanalysis

Variant: One feels inclined to say that the intention that man should be "happy" is not included in the plan of "Creation."
Source: 1920s, Civilization and Its Discontents (1929), Ch. 2, as translated by James Strachey, p.53

Happiness

“Life Plan:
I asked her what she planned to do with her life & she said she was way beyond that point already. I'm just happy I remember to be there when it happens, she said.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Life, Way, Happiness

“You cannot fulfil God's purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans.”

Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader

Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?

Life, God

“Man makes plans… and God laughs.”

Michael Chabon (1963) Novelist, short story writer, essayist

God

“If there is a God, his plan is very similar to someone not having a plan.”

Eddie Izzard (1962) British stand-up comedian, actor and writer

God

“You do not interrupt a man when he is explaining his master plan after having been soundly defeated. Don't you watch any James Bond Movies?”

Katie MacAlister (1964) Author

Source: Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang

“Why do I do anything?' she says. 'I'm educated enough to talk myself out of any plan. To deconstruct any fantasy. Explain away any goal. I'm so smart I can negate any dream.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

Education, Dreams

“If you want to make God laugh, tell her your plans.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

Source: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

God

“Plan?” Marasi asked.
“Not dyin’.”
“Anything more detailed than that?”
“Not dyin’ … today?”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Bands of Mourning

“Clearly, sharing something could take you a long way, or at least to a different place than you'd planned. Like a friendship or a family, or even jsut alone on a curb on a Saturday, trying to get your bearings as best you can.”

Sarah Dessen Lock and Key

Source: Lock and Key

Friendship, Family, Way

“Planning to write is not writing. Outlining... researching... talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.”

E.L. Doctorow (1931–2015) novelist, editor, professor

The New York Times (20 October 1985)

“My imagination longs to dash ahead and plan developments; but I have noticed that when things happen in one's imaginings, they never happen in one's life, so I am curbing myself.”

Dodie Smith book I Capture the Castle

Source: I Capture the Castle

Life, Imagination

“Every thinking person fears nuclear war and every technological nation plans for it. Everyone knows it's madness, and every country has an excuse.”

Carl Sagan book Cosmos

17 min 40 sec
Source: Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1990 Update), Who Speaks for Earth? [Episode 13]

War, Fear, Thinking, Personality

“The major problem of life is learning how to handle the costly interruptions. The door that slams shut, the plan that got sidetracked, the marriage that failed. Or that lovely poem that didn't get written because someone knocked on the door.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

Love, Life, Marriage, Problem

“Like every writer, he measured the virtues of other writers by their performance, and asked that they measure him by what he conjectured or planned.”

Jorge Luis Borges book Ficciones

"The Secret Miracle"; Variant: Like all writers, he measured the achievements of others by what they had accomplished, asking of them that they measure him by what he envisaged or planned.
Source: Ficciones (1944)