"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
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•
“Women belong in the kitchen. Men belong in the kitchen. The kitchen has food” (3/22)
•
“Women belong in the kitchen. Men belong in the kitchen. The kitchen has coffee” (3/22)
•
Entry in progress—BP (3/22)
•
“Women belong in the kitchen. Men belong in the kitchen. The kitchen has bacon” (3/22)
•
“New Rule: You’re not allowed to work longer than the number of hours you slept the night before” (3/22)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.