"Any time a character begins a flashback or story with 'the plan was simple,' you immediately know it won't end well. The plan is always simple."
— Noxshade
The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men
Gang aft agley note
Gang aft agley note
—Robert Burns, 'To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough'
Zoe: Captain'll come up with a plan.
Kaylee: That's good, right?
Zoe: Possibly you're not recalling some of the Captain's previous plans.
Kaylee: That's good, right?
Zoe: Possibly you're not recalling some of the Captain's previous plans.
— Firefly
"I wanted it to go smooth. Why don't it ever go smooth?"
— Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly
"What you plan and what takes place ain't ever exactly been similar."
— Jayne (to Mal), Serenity
"Helix, if everything goes according to plan, the plan has been compromised."
— Sam Starfall, Freefall
"There are only four rules you need to remember: Make the plan. Execute the plan. Expect the plan to go off the rails. Throw away the plan."
— Captain Cold, The Flash (2014)
"How come everything we get into starts off simple and ends up real complicated?"
— Niko Bellic, Grand Theft Auto IV
"Nothing is simpler than to kill a man. The difficulties arise in attempting to avoid the consequences."
"Hermione, when have any of our plans ever actually worked? We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose."
"One... Mission... I CAME HERE FOR JUST ONE! MISSION! AND I HAVE BEEN STUCK HERE FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS!
— Mechakara, Atop the Fourth Wall
Yolanda: When she's in the backyard, I'll sneak in her room and wear her clothes. I'll tell my mother I'm Mindy and say you made a pass at me.
Todd: OK, this sounds a little complicated, but I think I can handle exactly this amount of complication. As long as things don't become one bit more complicated...
Todd: OK, this sounds a little complicated, but I think I can handle exactly this amount of complication. As long as things don't become one bit more complicated...
Ziva: What did you think would happen?!
Tony: I didn't know! The flaw in the plan... was the plan.
Tony: I didn't know! The flaw in the plan... was the plan.
— NCIS, "Love & War"
Geralt: Something went wrong.
Dandelion: So you've heard everything? I hope you're not mad, you can't be... My plan was perfect... until we put it in motion.
Dandelion: So you've heard everything? I hope you're not mad, you can't be... My plan was perfect... until we put it in motion.
Making plans, the kind that go awry
Got a full life-time supply
Got a full life-time supply
— They Might Be Giants, "We Live in A Dump"
"No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength"
— Moltke the Elder
