As near as I can tell, "Failing to plan is planning to fail." is a modern restating of one of Benjamin Franklin's quotes "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Winston Churchill also said something similar, "He who fails to plan is planning to fail." Does anyone have a reference as to who the first person to put it "Failing to plan is planning to fail." was?

Julie

Apparently a number of coaches have said that, but I imagine they all took it from the Churchill quote, who probably took it from Franklin

I'm guessing that there is one person who said it that way and people copied him or her. I use that quote fairly often and I'd like to be able to attribute the person who worded it that way originally. I find it particularly useful (in that form) for starting discussions about planning and failure - although of course, since it's a paraphrasing of Ben Franklin, it's always safe to attribute him!

Julie

I do agree, I think it is a paraphrasing of Ben Franklin but it is a very useful and used quotes and therefore many other people have used an adapted version!

-Amy