All sorts of things can be done in the long run, but you have to live through the short run to get there.

Long-term goals are only reachable if you survive the stretch before them. A plan can be sound on paper and still fail because its early costs are too heavy to bear. Whatever the destination, the journey has to be livable, and that is easy to forget when the end result looks so appealing.

The thought fits Thomas Sowell's work as an economist, where he often warns against grand schemes that promise future benefits while glossing over the price of getting there. He stresses trade-offs and unintended consequences, and he notes that real people, with bills and families, have to endure the transition. Talk of "the long run" can sound wise while quietly dismissing those who are hurt along the way, or who run out of resources before the payoff arrives.

In everyday life, imagine someone who wants to move into a new career like programming. Quitting a job tomorrow to study full time feels bold, but if savings run dry in four months, the dream collapses. Keeping the job, studying in the evenings, and building a modest financial cushion is slower, yet it lets you reach the long run intact.