proverb · Words worth keeping
Dreams are what you hope for; reality is what you plan for.
Dreams are what you hope for; reality is what you plan for.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Dreams as hopes and reality as what one plans for separate aspiration from practical preparation. The saying asks that an aim engage with actual conditions.
What the words are saying
The distinction does not make imagination useless or planning sufficient to control outcomes. A useful application checks what resources, stages and limits matter while permitting revision. A dream can guide a practical plan, and reality includes events that neither hope nor preparation fully determines.
Everyday example
Someone turns an appealing aim into feasible steps while identifying uncertainties the plan cannot remove.
When to use it
Use it to discuss aspiration and preparation together.
What it does not mean
No guarantee that planning controls reality or reason to dismiss imagination is established.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
United States
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.- Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 152; PDF page 19; collection label: United States
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- United States