The line is near-universally credited to Gloria Steinem and reads as authentically hers — it is the tail of a two-sentence thought, “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” It is often associated with her 1992 book Revolution from Within, but no source I could check — Quote Investigator, Wikiquote’s sourced section, or the quotation archives — pins the exact wording to a specific page, essay, or date. So: firmly attributed, not yet verified to a primary source.
“Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning” Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. — attributed to Gloria Steinem (widely credited; no primary source documented)
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In context
Evoking the world of Gloria Steinem — American feminist, journalist & activist. Theme: "Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
What the record shows
Attributed to
Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)
Fuller form
“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”
Commonly linked work
Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem (1992)
Primary source
Not documented — no page, essay, or date confirmed
Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.
The popular one-liner is only the second sentence of this fuller thought as it circulates online.
The line circulates everywhere credited to Steinem — e.g. Goodreads ↗ carries the fuller two-sentence form, but flags that quotes are user-added and are “not verified,” and cites no book.
Good Good Good ↗’s roundup of Steinem quotes reproduces the full sentence and, like every other aggregator, attaches no source work or date.
Wikiquote ↗’s Steinem page does not list the line in any of its sourced sections, so no editor has pinned it to a primary text — and Quote Investigator ↗ has not published a study of it.
Gloria Steinem is a living author (b. 1934) and this is a modern line; whatever work it comes from — it is most often linked to her 1992 book Revolution from Within — was first published well after 1931 and remains under copyright. Nothing here is public domain.
Fact-check
How the quote travels
The credit to Steinem looks sound — but the line moves through the internet stripped of any provenance, and usually trimmed.
✕
TruncationQuote sites mis-worded
The famous one-liner is only the second half of a two-sentence thought. The full version begins “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities” — visible on Goodreads ↗ — before the memorable closer.
✕
Missing sourceAggregators no citation
No collection that carries it — Good Good Good ↗, Goodreads, BrainyQuote — names a book, essay, page, or date. It is commonly said to come from Revolution from Within (1992), but that link is asserted, not documented.
✓Bottom line: this is a genuine-sounding, widely-credited Steinem line consistent with her work — but until a specific page or edition is cited, treat it as attributed, not verified. Wikiquote ↗ lists no primary source for it.
Context
Why it resonates
The appeal of the line is that it reframes dreaming — usually cast as idle or escapist — as the first, necessary stage of getting anything done. For Steinem, whose activism turned on imagining arrangements that did not yet exist, that reframe is not a throwaway aphorism but a working method.
That fit is exactly why it is so easy to believe she said it — and why it has spread for decades with no one stopping to ask where she said it.
Dreaming recast not as escape, but as the first stage of planning.
Explore
Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
b. 1934 · American feminist, journalist & activist
Gloria Steinem is an American journalist and feminist organizer who co-founded Ms. magazine in 1972 and became one of the most visible leaders of the women’s movement. Her books include Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (1983), Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem (1992), and the memoir My Life on the Road (2015). Themes of imagination, self-worth, and turning inner vision into action run throughout her work — which is why this line reads as authentically hers.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Primary source — Chicago
Gloria Steinem, quotation widely attributed but without a documented primary source; frequently associated with her Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem (1992), though the exact wording has not been confirmed to any page. Earliest traceable attestations are secondary quotation collections.
MLA (9th ed.)
Steinem, Gloria. Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem. 1992.
APA (7th ed.)
Steinem, G. (1992). Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning’?” Last verified 16 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/dreaming-after-all-is-a-form-of-planning