--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because humans are complicated,” Harry…" description: "\"“Because humans are complicated,” Harry said, and could hear an echo of something he had heard and forgotten. “We want to do things that are complex, t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/jo-nesb-2258_complicated_because-humans-are-complicated-harry-sai_2901118.jpg" --- # Because humans are complicated,” Harry said, and could… ![“Because humans are complicated,” Harry said, and could hear an echo of something he had heard and forgotten. “We want to do things that are complex, that mesh, where we control our fates and can feel like rulers of our own universes.” quote by Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/jo-nesb-2258_complicated_because-humans-are-complicated-harry-sai_2901118.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/jo-nesb-2258_complicated_because-humans-are-complicated-harry-sai_2901118.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/jo-nesb-2258_complicated_because-humans-are-complicated-harry-sai_2901118.jpg) > ““Because humans are complicated,” Harry said, and could hear an echo of something he had heard and forgotten. “We want to do things that are complex, that mesh, where we control our fates and can feel like rulers of our own universes.”” [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans crave complexity and control, seeking to shape their own destinies. **In simple terms:** People want complex, controllable experiences. Key Takeaway Seek meaningful complexity and agency. Themes complexity control human nature Mood thoughtful philosophical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - creative work - leadership - personal planning Key Concepts existentialism agency self‑determination Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel empowered by complexity? - How do you balance control with uncertainty? A Different Perspective Complexity can overwhelm and cause paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Complicated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated/) [Complicated Harry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated-harry-4125784/) [Harry Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harry-said-418786/) [Humans Complicated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans-complicated-844068/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Things Complex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-complex-1019072/) ## Related quotes > [“Life is simple. 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Parents especially so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alisha-rai/humans-were-complicated-parents-especially-so/) [Alisha Rai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alisha-rai/) > [“We humans are such complicated and confused beings that we call the animals beasts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristiane-serruya/we-humans-are-such-complicated-and-confused-beings-that-we-call-the/) [Cristiane Serruya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristiane-serruya/) > [“...if he sees his fellow humans as anything more than complicated animals. 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We can't be reduced to labels or summed up with five traits - even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-konnikova/humans-are-the-most-complicated-nuanced-things-that-exist-we-can-t-be/) [Maria Konnikova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-konnikova/) > [It's just this feeling of when you're a kid, you have these ideas about the world and about people in your life that don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-watts/it-s-just-this-feeling-of-when-you-re-a-kid-you-have-these-ideas/) [Jon Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-watts/) > [There are cases where you can say a lot more in a hook than you can by making things more complex in a verse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chance-the-rapper/there-are-cases-where-you-can-say-a-lot-more-in-a-hook-than-you-can/) [Chance The Rapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chance-the-rapper/) > [Things that are complex are not useful, Things that are useful are simple.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-kalashnikov/things-that-are-complex-are-not-useful-things-that-are-useful-are/) [Mikhail Kalashnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-kalashnikov/) > [“You're a complex girl. I tend to be drawn to things complex.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-laurens/you-re-a-complex-girl-i-tend-to-be-drawn-to-things-complex/) [Jennifer Laurens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-laurens/) > [In studying music, you're dealing with a person, not just what comes to you on a piece of paper, and it's important to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-meale/in-studying-music-you-re-dealing-with-a-person-not-just-what-comes-to/) [Richard Meale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-meale/) > [All living things are gnarly, in that they inevitably do things that are much more complex than one might have expected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudy-rucker/all-living-things-are-gnarly-in-that-they-inevitably-do-things-that/) [Rudy Rucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudy-rucker/) ## More by Jo Nesbø > [“You are as old as you feel. So I reckon I'm about sixty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/you-are-as-old-as-you-feel-so-i-reckon-i-m-about-sixty/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“It’s strange, but when your father has gone you suddenly discover that the choices you have made were as much for him as for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/it-s-strange-but-when-your-father-has-gone-you-suddenly-discover-that/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“The great thing about facts is that you don't have to ponder whether they're desirable or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/the-great-thing-about-facts-is-that-you-don-t-have-to-ponder-whether/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“He who is destined for the gallows will not drown, as we say in Norwegian,” Harry said. “What?” “I agree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/he-who-is-destined-for-the-gallows-will-not-drown-as-we-say-in/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“He sensed her aroma and greedily breathed in the fragrance. He must not let himself be duped. Those cunning bastards at Karl Lagerfeld and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/he-sensed-her-aroma-and-greedily-breathed-in-the-fragrance-he-must/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“That morality—which some people imagine is God-given and eternal—is as malleable and learned as our ideas of beauty, our enemies, our fashion trends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/that-morality-which-some-people-imagine-is-god-given-and-eternal-is/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“He who is destined for the gallows will not drown,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/he-who-is-destined-for-the-gallows-will-not-drown/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“I just know that when I’m walking on the wafer-thin ice of happiness, I’m terrified, so terrified that I wish it was over, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/i-just-know-that-when-i-m-walking-on-the-wafer-thin-ice-of-happiness/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“longevity bestowed respect, even upon a whorehouse madam if she kept going for long enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/longevity-bestowed-respect-even-upon-a-whorehouse-madam-if-she-kept/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“Man's ability to think rationally when self-interest was at stake was inversely proportional to intelligence. - Aune”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/man-s-ability-to-think-rationally-when-self-interest-was-at-stake-was/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“A sudden, uncontrollable fury rose in him, and he cast around for something to smash. He snatched the whiskey bottle from the table and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/a-sudden-uncontrollable-fury-rose-in-him-and-he-cast-around-for/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“Norwegians were not exactly what you might call a cultured people - Nikolai Loeb”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/norwegians-were-not-exactly-what-you-might-call-a-cultured-people/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“I shut my eyes and concentrated on the sun, and on feeling it warm my skin. On pleasure. Hedon. The Greek god. Or idol,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/i-shut-my-eyes-and-concentrated-on-the-sun-and-on-feeling-it-warm-my/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“My honesty now is merely a long-term investment in my own plausibility. Because there may come a day when I really need to lie,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/my-honesty-now-is-merely-a-long-term-investment-in-my-own/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) > [“The social space between people who don’t know each other is from one to three and a half metres. That’s the distance you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/the-social-space-between-people-who-don-t-know-each-other-is-from-one/) [Jo Nesbø](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) [Explore all 162 Jo Nesbø quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/) ## More Complicated quotes > [Of course I like you. It's because I like you I don't wanna be with you. It's a complicated emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlin/of-course-i-like-you-it-s-because-i-like-you-i-don-t-wanna-be-with/) [Marlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlin/) > [“Why the hell did he have to be so complicated? One minute he was charming, the next he withdrew behind his internal walls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lia-davis/why-the-hell-did-he-have-to-be-so-complicated-one-minute-he-was/) [Lia Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lia-davis/) > [Life is more complicated than we think, yet far simpler than anyone dares to imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/life-is-more-complicated-than-we-think-yet-far-simpler-than-anyone/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [We animals are the most complicated things in the known universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-animals-are-the-most-complicated-things-in-the-known-universe/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Programmers are always surrounded by complexity; we cannot avoid it… If our basic tool, the language in which we design and code our programs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/programmers-are-always-surrounded-by-complexity-we-cannot-avoid-it-if/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [“Just because it's complicated, just because you think you can't ever know everything about another person, it doesn't mean you can't try.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/just-because-it-s-complicated-just-because-you-think-you-can-t-ever/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [The one thing I absolutely hate about social media are the people who abuse it. Whenever I see a person who constantly posts negative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazmin-garcia/the-one-thing-i-absolutely-hate-about-social-media-are-the-people-who/) [Jazmin Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazmin-garcia/) > [I think the ethics and morals of genetic engineering are very complicated. It intrigues me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spottiswoode/i-think-the-ethics-and-morals-of-genetic-engineering-are-very/) [Roger Spottiswoode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spottiswoode/) > [Your Starbucks order is directly proportional to how complicated your personality is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin/your-starbucks-order-is-directly-proportional-to-how-complicated-your/) [Kevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I have learned so much from my dad. Perhaps the biggest thing I've learned from my dad is how to be prepared at all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-sekulow/i-have-learned-so-much-from-my-dad-perhaps-the-biggest-thing-i-ve/) [Jay Sekulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-sekulow/) > [The world is complicated and full of grays, but there's still truth there to be found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-world-is-complicated-and-full-of-grays-but-there-s-still-truth/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [ The parts of the \[Civil Right\] Movement we recognize so well now were not born from a single decision, but were a complicated and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-aydin/the-parts-of-the-civil-right-movement-we-recognize-so-well-now-were/) [Andrew Aydin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-aydin/) > [Two people could build an outhouse in four hours. They're not complicated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-maxwell/two-people-could-build-an-outhouse-in-four-hours-they-re-not/) [Robert Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-maxwell/) [Browse all 3,190 Complicated quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Because humans are complicated,” Harry said, and could hear an echo of something he had heard and forgotten. “We want to do things that are complex, that mesh, where we control our fates and can feel like rulers of our own universes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jo Nesbø" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/because-humans-are-complicated-harry-said-and-could-hear-an-echo-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Complicated" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/because-humans-are-complicated-harry-said-and-could-hear-an-echo-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/jo-nesb-2258_complicated_because-humans-are-complicated-harry-sai_2901118.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/jo-nesb-2258_complicated_because-humans-are-complicated-harry-sai_2901118.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93d/jo-nesb-2258_complicated_because-humans-are-complicated-harry-sai_2901118.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Because humans are complicated,” Harry said, and could hear an echo of something he had heard and forgotten…” — Jo Nesbø", "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": "Jo Nesbø", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesb/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Because humans are complicated,” Harry said,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/because-humans-are-complicated-harry-said-and-could-hear-an-echo-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesb/because-humans-are-complicated-harry-said-and-could-hear-an-echo-of/#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 } } ] } ```