Yogi Berra? Abigail Van Buren? Joe Garagiola? Laurence J. Peter? Robert F. Mager? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Selecting goals and targets is helpful. A collection of humorous sayings highlights the disadvantages of aimlessness. Here are three examples:
(1) If you don’t know where you are going you will never arrive.
(2) If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re going to wind up someplace else.
(3) You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going because you might not get there.
Instances from this family have been credited to baseball player Yogi Berra, Canadian educator Laurence J. Peter, psychologist Robert F. Mager, and advice columnist Abigail Van Buren. Would you please explore this topic?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Here is an overview with dates showing the variety of expressions and attributions in this family:
1907 Nov 25: If you don’t know where you are going you will never arrive (Attributed to Anonymous)
1962: If you’re not sure where you’re going, you’re liable to end up someplace else—and not even know it (Robert F. Mager)
1969: If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else. (Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull)
1969 Jun 06: If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re going to wind up someplace else (Attributed to Yogi Berra)
1969 Jul 22: If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re gonna wind up somewhere else (Attributed to Yogi Berra)
1969 Aug 09: People who don’t know where they’re going usually wind up somewhere else (Abigail Van Buren)
1972 Jan 31: If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up some place else (Attributed to Yogi Berra)
1979 Nov: If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know when you get there (Attributed to Yogi Berra)
1980 Nov 14: If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there? (Attributed to Yogi Berra)
1982 Aug 17: You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there (Attributed to Yogi Berra)
1983 Dec 29: You’ve got to be careful because if you don’t know where you’re going, you might never get there (Attributed to Yogi Berra)
1998: You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going ’cause you might not get there! (Yogi Berra)
Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.
In 1907 the trade publication “Walden’s Stationer and Printer” of New York presented an anonymous instance:1
In the language of one of the sententious bits of wisdom of the “check book,” “If you don’t know where you are going you will never arrive.”
In 1911 the “International Stereotypers’ and Electrotypers’ Union Journal” printed a note from correspondent Charles S. Barlow who repeated the saying from 1907:2
If you don’t know where you are going, you will never arrive. Have an object in view.
In 1962 Robert F. Mager published “Preparing Instructional Objectives”, which presented a fable about a sea horse without a precise plan. The sea horse decided to naively follow the directions of a shark. Unfortunately, the path led into the shark’s devouring mouth. Mager summarized the lesson of his fable:3
The moral of this fable is that if you’re not sure where you’re going, you’re liable to end up someplace else—and not even know it.
In 1964 a piece in “The Dental Practitioner” repeated the fable from Mager while giving his credit:4
The moral of this fable is that if you’re not sure where you’re going, you’re liable to end up someplace else.
In 1968 a workshop on “Programmed Instruction in Teaching Patient Management” was held by Preston Lea Wilds and Virginia Zachert who employed the following expression which used the word “somewhere” instead of “someplace”:5
Summary: “If you’re not sure where you’re going, you’re liable to end up somewhere else.”
In 1969 Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull published “The Peter Principle” which included the following:6
In my lecture, Destiny Lies Ahead, I tell my students, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”
In June 1969 baseball player Joe Garagiola returned to his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri to serve as master of ceremonies at a Scholar-Athlete dinner. Garagiola credited fellow baseball player Yogi Berra with an instance of the saying:7
If you don’t know where you’re going, as Joe Garagiola quoted Yogi, you’re going to wind up someplace else.
In July 1969 a columnist in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma wrote about the same dinner hosted by Joe Garagiola:8
Joe was addressing a banquet in the old home town. He brought along philosophy from another graduate of the neighborhood, Yogi Berra.
“Yogi wanted me to leave those words of wisdom with you scholar-athletes. He said, ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re gonna wind up somewhere else.'”
In August 1969 the saying appeared in the widely syndicated newspaper advice column “Dear Abby” which was written by Abigail Van Buren the pseudonym of Pauline Phillips:9
CONFIDENTIAL TO “LEE”: People who don’t know where they’re going usually wind up somewhere else.
In 1972 a newspaper in Greeley, Colorado credited Yogi Berra with an instance containing the word “might”:10
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up some place else.”
Willys Monroe borrowed that statement from baseball’s Yogi Berra to help convey his thoughts …
In November 1979 a pamphlet from the U.S. government about juvenile firesetters contained the following variant attributed to Berra:11
Former baseball star Yogi Berra once remarked “If you don’t know where you’re going, you won’t know when you get there.”
In 1980 a columnist in the “New York Post” credited Berra with another instance:12
The great philosopher, Yogi Berra, once said: “If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?”
In 1982 a columnist in Seattle, Washington credited Berra with another instance:13
As baseball’s Yogi Berra explained it, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”
In 1983 a columnist in Toronto, Canada credited Berra with yet another instance:14
He advised people that “you’ve got to be careful because if you don’t know where you’re going, you might never get there.”
In 1998 Yogi Berra published “The Yogi Book” which contained sayings ascribed to Berra that he was willing to embrace together with brief comments:15
You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going ’cause you might not get there!”
If you don’t set goals, you can’t regret not reaching them.
In conclusion, an anonymous instance appeared in 1907 with the phrase “never arrive”. In 1962 psychologist Robert F. Mager crafted a version with the phrase “liable to end up someplace else”. In 1969 Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull employed a version that was similar to Mager’s version. Also, in 1969 Yogi Berra received credit from Joe Garagiola for an instance.
Image Notes: Picture of a map with a compass from Denise Jans at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Jonathan Lighter who shared a passage by Lewis Carroll in which Alice spoke to the Cheshire Cat. This indirectly inspired QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Thanks also to “The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs” compiled by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro which contained a pertinent entry listing the saying in the 1969 book by Lawrence J. Peter and Raymond Hull. In addition, thanks to “The New Yale Book of Quotations” which contained an entry for the saying in “The Yogi Book”.
- 1907 November 25, Walden’s Stationer and Printer, Volume 28, Number 9, Annual Meeting and Banquet: New England Printers Elect Officers – An Evening of Feast, Fun and Frolic From Our Boston Correspondent, Start Page 4, Quote Page 38, Column 2, Walden’s Publishing Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1911 November, International Stereotypers’ and Electrotypers’ Union Journal, Volume 7, Number 11, Correspondence: Richmond by Charles S. Barlow, Quote Page 25, Column 2, Published by International Stereotypers’ and Electrotypers’ Union, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1962 Copyright, Preparing Instructional Objectives by Robert F. Mager PhD, Section: Preface, Quote Page vii, Fearon Publishers: Education Division of Lear Siegler Inc., Belmont, California. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1964 May, The Dental Practitioner and Dental Record, Volume 14, Number 9, Objectives in Dental Education by David S. Berman (Senior Lecturer in Child Dental Health, London Hospital Medical College), Start Page 359, Quote Page 360, Column 1, John Wright & Sons, Bristol, England. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1968 December, Workshop: Programmed Instruction in Teaching Patient Management by Preston Lea Wilds MD and Virginia Zachert PhD, Illustrated Talk by Virginia Zachert, Start Page 63, Quote Page 68 (iv), Learning Materials Division, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia. (Verified with Scans) ↩︎
- 1969, The Peter Principle by Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, Chapter 15: The Darwinian Extension, Quote Page 159, William Morrow and Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1969 June 6, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sleepless Pal Joey Gets ‘Up’ for Scholar Dinner by Bob Broeg (Post-Dispatch Sports Editor), Quote Page 2C, Column 2, St. Louis, Missouri. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1969 July 22, The Daily Oklahoman, Stealing Legal, But Only on 5th Down by Bob Hurt, Quote Page 14, Column 1, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1969 August 9, Desert Dispatch, Dear Abby: Needs a love with a future! by Abigail Van Buren, Quote Page 10, Column 1, Barstow, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1972 January 31, The Greeley Daily Tribune, Speaker Offers Guidelines to Educational Accountability by Janet Sitzman (Tribune Staff Writer), Quote Page 1, Column 1, Greeley, Colorado. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1979 November, Interviewing and Counseling Juvenile Firesetters: The Child Under Seven Years of Age, Section: Introduction, Quote Page 3, Column 1, Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Fire Administration. Office of Planning and Education. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C. (Google Books Preview) ↩︎
- 1980 November 14, New York Post, It’s vital to have fun on the way by Harry Newton, Quote Page 65, Column 1, New York, New York. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
- 1982 August 17, The Seattle Times, Historic handshake provokes profound questions about football by Rick Anderson (Times staff columnist), Quote Page B1, Column 4, Seattle, Washington. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
- 1983 December 29, The Toronto Star, Yogi’s humor has wisdom, too by Jim Proudfoot, Quote Page C2, Column 4, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1998, The Yogi Book: I really didn’t say everything I said! by Yogi Berra, Quote Page 102, Workman Publishing, New York. (Verified on paper) ↩︎