--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is a puzzling world, and Old Harry's…" description: "\"This is a puzzling world, and Old Harry's got a finger in it.\" — George Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b58/george-eliot-84_fingers_this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s_734894.png" --- # This is a puzzling world, and Old Harry's got a finger in… ![“This is a puzzling world, and Old Harry's got a finger in it.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b58/george-eliot-84_fingers_this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s_734894.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b58/george-eliot-84_fingers_this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s_734894.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b58/george-eliot-84_fingers_this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s_734894.png) > “This is a puzzling world, and Old Harry's got a finger in it.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The world is complex and mysterious, and a powerful influence subtly shapes events. **In simple terms:** Hidden forces affect life. Key Takeaway Recognize unseen influences. Themes mystery influence complexity Mood curious reflective Type literary observational When to use this quote - personal decisions - political analysis - historical study Key Concepts literature social critique Questions to Reflect On - How do unseen forces shape your choices? - What evidence reveals hidden influence? A Different Perspective Powerful forces may be overstated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Puzzling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/puzzling/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [People ask me if there are going to be stories of Harry Potter as an adult. Frankly, if I wanted to, I could keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/people-ask-me-if-there-are-going-to-be-stories-of-harry-potter-as-an/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [“Do you remember old Harry Hopwood, Inspector?” “Of course. He was one of the first major arrests I made.” “Right. Nabbed him after that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-newman/do-you-remember-old-harry-hopwood-inspector-of-course-he-was-one-of/) [Robert Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-newman/) > [There are only two families in the world, my old grandmother used to say, the Haves and the Have-nots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/there-are-only-two-families-in-the-world-my-old-grandmother-used-to/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“In the world of old memories, there's no room for visitors”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nobuhiro-watsuki/in-the-world-of-old-memories-there-s-no-room-for-visitors/) [Nobuhiro Watsuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nobuhiro-watsuki/) > [“You are surprised that the world is losing its grip, that the world is grown old? Think of a man: he is born, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustine-of-hippo/you-are-surprised-that-the-world-is-losing-its-grip-that-the-world-is-2/) [Augustine of Hippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustine-of-hippo/) > [I always say I was born too late in the world, too old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-martinez/i-always-say-i-was-born-too-late-in-the-world-too-old/) [Olivier Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-martinez/) > [“Yet I do not believe that the world about us will ever again be as it was of old, or the light of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/yet-i-do-not-believe-that-the-world-about-us-will-ever-again-be-as-it/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [You're NEVER too younge to change the world.You're NEVER to old either.Help as much as you can,When you can.(:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine/you-re-never-too-younge-to-change-the-world-you-re-never-to-old/) [Jasmine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine/) > [“What you learn as you get older is that the world is old, and has been old for a long time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-crowley/what-you-learn-as-you-get-older-is-that-the-world-is-old-and-has-been/) [John Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-crowley/) > [“When all the world is old, lad, And all the trees are brown; And all the sport is stale, lad, And all the wheels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-kearsley/when-all-the-world-is-old-lad-and-all-the-trees-are-brown-and-all-the/) [Susanna Kearsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-kearsley/) > [“The World is a very old place, so you'll never be able to tell a completely original story”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-lamb/the-world-is-a-very-old-place-so-you-ll-never-be-able-to-tell-a/) [Wally Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-lamb/) > [I am perhaps the oldest musician in the world. I am an old man but in many senses a very young man. And this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/i-am-perhaps-the-oldest-musician-in-the-world-i-am-an-old-man-but-in/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) > [“There was a charm in being reborn into the world when one was old enough to appreciate it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/there-was-a-charm-in-being-reborn-into-the-world-when-one-was-old/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) > [And as far as I can see the world is too old for us to talk about it with our new words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-is-too-old-for-us-to-talk-about-it/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [When we go down to the low-tide line, we enter a world that is as old as the earth itself - the primeval meeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/when-we-go-down-to-the-low-tide-line-we-enter-a-world-that-is-as-old/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Fingers quotes > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [Yes yes you can count on me - Fingers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/yes-yes-you-can-count-on-me-fingers/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [The child who ran weeping to you with a cut finger is now brought home, smiling gamely, with a broken collarbone and incredible contusions-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/the-child-who-ran-weeping-to-you-with-a-cut-finger-is-now-brought/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [Sam reached his hand toward mine and I automatically put my fingers in his. With a guilty little smile he pulled my hand toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/sam-reached-his-hand-toward-mine-and-i-automatically-put-my-fingers/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [I take the seashell from my jeans pocket and rub my fingers across its silken, indented surface, shallow as my own open hand. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kenison/i-take-the-seashell-from-my-jeans-pocket-and-rub-my-fingers-across/) [Katrina Kenison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kenison/) > [The world belongs to those who think and act with it, who keep a finger on its pulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ralph-inge/the-world-belongs-to-those-who-think-and-act-with-it-who-keep-a/) [William Ralph Inge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ralph-inge/) > [Shhh.” He put a finger to her lips. “Hear me out. I cannot deny that I would've liked to have made babies with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/shhh-he-put-a-finger-to-her-lips-hear-me-out-i-cannot-deny-that-i/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [ \[Sport officials\] blocked their support of us. But those individuals \[ Muhammad Ali, the Jim Browns, the Bill Russells, Kareem Abdul Jabbar \] were… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carlos/sport-officials-blocked-their-support-of-us-but-those-individuals/) [John Carlos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carlos/) > [Jazz is the music of the body. The breath comes through brass. It is the body's breath, and the strings' wails and moans are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/jazz-is-the-music-of-the-body-the-breath-comes-through-brass-it-is/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [You hit somebody with your fist and not with your fingers spread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-guderian/you-hit-somebody-with-your-fist-and-not-with-your-fingers-spread/) [Heinz Guderian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-guderian/) > [I would have touched it like a child But knew my finger could but have touched Cold stone and water. I grew wild, Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/i-would-have-touched-it-like-a-child-but-knew-my-finger-could-but/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The trees change their voices in autumn as well as their shapes. No longer do they whisper to one another in muffled tones as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience-strong/the-trees-change-their-voices-in-autumn-as-well-as-their-shapes-no/) [Patience Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience-strong/) > [Some people are born skinny, and that's just the way it is. You can't point a finger at them and say they're ill or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-klum/some-people-are-born-skinny-and-that-s-just-the-way-it-is-you-can-t/) [Heidi Klum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-klum/) Browse all 2,537 Fingers quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is a puzzling world, and Old Harry's got a finger in it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s-got-a-finger-in-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fingers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s-got-a-finger-in-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b58/george-eliot-84_fingers_this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s_734894.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b58/george-eliot-84_fingers_this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s_734894.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b58/george-eliot-84_fingers_this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s_734894.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This is a puzzling world, and Old Harry's got a finger in it.” — George Eliot", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Eliot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This is a puzzling world, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s-got-a-finger-in-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/this-is-a-puzzling-world-and-old-harry-s-got-a-finger-in-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```