It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.

The remark contrasts passive longing with deliberate action. It suggests that “wishing” is not cost-free: people often invest real emotional and mental effort in imagining outcomes, rehearsing hopes, or regretting what they lack. Roosevelt’s point is that this same effort can be redirected into planning—setting goals, identifying steps, and making commitments that increase the chance of achieving what one wants. The quote functions as a practical ethic of agency: it reframes aspiration as something that should be coupled with strategy, implying that the difference between fantasy and progress is not energy but how that energy is organized.