If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.

This line is widely attributed to the baseball catcher and manager Yogi Berra as part of the body of humorous, paradoxical “Yogi-isms” that circulated in American popular culture from the 1950s onward. Berra became famous not only for his Hall of Fame career with the New York Yankees but also for offhand remarks that sounded comically illogical while conveying practical wisdom. The saying is typically invoked in business, coaching, and self-help settings as a folksy reminder about planning and goal-setting, though it is often repeated without a clear record of the exact occasion on which Berra first said it.

The quip turns on a comic literalism: without a destination, any arrival is accidental. Beneath the joke is a serious point about intention—goals, values, or a plan provide direction, while their absence leaves outcomes to drift, habit, or circumstance. The line also hints at responsibility: if you cannot articulate where you mean to go, you cannot meaningfully evaluate progress or choose among alternatives. Like many Berra-isms, its charm lies in how a seemingly obvious statement becomes memorable through its playful phrasing, making it easy to recall and apply in contexts far beyond baseball.