--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anything's hard to find if you go around…" description: "\"Anything's hard to find if you go around looking for it with your eyes shut.\" — Shelagh Delaney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/shelagh-delaney-26477_eye_anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around_1098161.png" --- # Anything's hard to find if you go around looking for it… ![“Anything's hard to find if you go around looking for it with your eyes shut.” quote by Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/shelagh-delaney-26477_eye_anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around_1098161.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/shelagh-delaney-26477_eye_anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around_1098161.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/shelagh-delaney-26477_eye_anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around_1098161.png) > “Anything's hard to find if you go around looking for it with your eyes shut.” [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeking something while ignoring evidence leads to failure. **In simple terms:** Blind searching wastes effort. Key Takeaway Observe clearly before searching. Themes perception effort search failure Mood frustrated thoughtful Type advice reflective When to use this quote - research - investigation - problem solving - decision making Key Concepts cognitive bias mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - Are you overlooking clues? - How can you improve observation? A Different Perspective Blind effort can miss obvious solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Eyes Shut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes-shut/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hard Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-looking-2874240/) [Looking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking/) [Looking Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-eyes/) [Search](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/search/) [Ur Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ur-eyes/) ## Related quotes > [“stories can be hard to find when you go looking for one, rather then letting one find you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aric-davis/stories-can-be-hard-to-find-when-you-go-looking-for-one-rather-then/) [Aric Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aric-davis/) > [Its gets hard looking for a reason to be happy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-gets-hard-looking-for-a-reason-to-be-happy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What it is you are looking for, isnt at the stars but in front of your eyes ... when you download the head... will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-kakalopoulou/what-it-is-you-are-looking-for-isnt-at-the-stars-but-in-front-of-your/) [Georgia Kakalopoulou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-kakalopoulou/) > [We are all too much inclined, I think, to walk through life with our eyes shut. There are things all round us and right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-graham-bell/we-are-all-too-much-inclined-i-think-to-walk-through-life-with-our/) [Alexander Graham Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-graham-bell/) > [It always seems like when you stop looking, that's when you finally find what you are looking for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-always-seems-like-when-you-stop-looking-that-s-when-you-finally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When you stop looking for something, you see it right in front of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-coppola/when-you-stop-looking-for-something-you-see-it-right-in-front-of-you/) [Eleanor Coppola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-coppola/) > [“Even if you don't find what you think you're looking for, darling, it's the going out and looking for it that counts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-fay/even-if-you-don-t-find-what-you-think-you-re-looking-for-darling-it-s/) [Kim Fay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-fay/) > [You can't find what you don't go looking for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christie-ridgway/you-can-t-find-what-you-don-t-go-looking-for/) [Christie Ridgway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christie-ridgway/) > [What you are looking for is what you are looking with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/what-you-are-looking-for-is-what-you-are-looking-with/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [If you go looking for loonies and religious fanatics and dropouts and freaks, I dare say you'll find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/if-you-go-looking-for-loonies-and-religious-fanatics-and-dropouts-and/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something (or so Thorin said to the young dwarves).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/there-is-nothing-like-looking-if-you-want-to-find-something-or-so/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [Perfect is hard to find like a nibble in a haystack. If you're looking for perfect look again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-matobo/perfect-is-hard-to-find-like-a-nibble-in-a-haystack-if-you-re-looking/) [Frank Matobo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-matobo/) > [“You’ll drive yourself crazy looking for something that’s not there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eowyn-ivey/you-ll-drive-yourself-crazy-looking-for-something-that-s-not-there/) [Eowyn Ivey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eowyn-ivey/) > [“Don't keep looking for "something" in the bag of "nothing". You will see the same thing again and again no matter how many times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/don-t-keep-looking-for-something-in-the-bag-of-nothing-you-will-see/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Once you stop looking for what you what you find exactly what you need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia/once-you-stop-looking-for-what-you-what-you-find-exactly-what-you-need/) [Cynthia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia/) ## More by Shelagh Delaney > [“I dreamt about you last night. Fell out of bed twice”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/i-dreamt-about-you-last-night-fell-out-of-bed-twice/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [Why don't you learn from my mistakes? It takes half your life to learn from your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/why-don-t-you-learn-from-my-mistakes-it-takes-half-your-life-to-learn/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [There aren't enough secrets to go round anymore. Some spies are having to invent secrets in order to earn a living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/there-aren-t-enough-secrets-to-go-round-anymore-some-spies-are-having/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [A woman's got as much right -and more cause - to get drunk than any man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/a-woman-s-got-as-much-right-and-more-cause-to-get-drunk-than-any-man/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [ \[On England:\] In this country there are only two seasons, winter and winter. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/on-england-in-this-country-there-are-only-two-seasons-winter-and/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [You can remember the second and the third and the fourth time, but there's no time like the first. It's always there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/you-can-remember-the-second-and-the-third-and-the-fourth-time-but/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [Women never have young minds. They were born three thousand years old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/women-never-have-young-minds-they-were-born-three-thousand-years-old/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [I am here and I am safe and I am sick of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/i-am-here-and-i-am-safe-and-i-am-sick-of-it/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [“Oh! I must take my shoes off. Huh! Hell hath no fury like a woman's corns, has it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/oh-i-must-take-my-shoes-off-huh-hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-woman-s/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [Nothing passes. Everything stays with you. Everything makes it’s mark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/nothing-passes-everything-stays-with-you-everything-makes-it-s-mark/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [Life is a game - sometimes serious, sometimes fun - but a game that must be played with true team spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/life-is-a-game-sometimes-serious-sometimes-fun-but-a-game-that-must/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [My usual self is a very unusual self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/my-usual-self-is-a-very-unusual-self/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [I have heard people say that they drink to forget their sorrows but the more I drink the more sorrows I collect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/i-have-heard-people-say-that-they-drink-to-forget-their-sorrows-but/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [ “\[JO watches her go, leaning against the doorpost. Then she looks round the room, smiling a little to herself -- she remembers GEOF.\] JO:… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/jo-watches-her-go-leaning-against-the-doorpost-then-she-looks-round/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [I’m not afraid of the darkness outside. It’s the darkness inside houses I don’t like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/i-m-not-afraid-of-the-darkness-outside-it-s-the-darkness-inside/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) [Explore all 21 Shelagh Delaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) ## More Eye quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [If you take your eye off the ball or lose focus for even a minute you can lose a game against any team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felipe-anderson/if-you-take-your-eye-off-the-ball-or-lose-focus-for-even-a-minute-you/) [Felipe Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felipe-anderson/) > [“He blinked. His eyes fell as he processed her response. Then he lifted his chin and attempted a grin that was almost painfully dejected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/he-blinked-his-eyes-fell-as-he-processed-her-response-then-he-lifted/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [Quotations can be valuable, like raisins in the rice pudding, for adding iron as well as eye appeal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/quotations-can-be-valuable-like-raisins-in-the-rice-pudding-for/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/clearly-when-we-baptize-our-eyes-should-gaze-beyond-the-baptismal/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. With his will or against his will he draws his portrait to the eye of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-cannot-speak-but-he-judges-himself-with-his-will-or-against-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/) [Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/) > [Liesel observed the strangeness of her foster father's eyes. They were made of kindness, and silver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/liesel-observed-the-strangeness-of-her-foster-father-s-eyes-they-were/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) [Browse all 16,237 Eye quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anything's hard to find if you go around looking for it with your eyes shut.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shelagh Delaney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around-looking-for-it-with-your/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eye" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around-looking-for-it-with-your/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/shelagh-delaney-26477_eye_anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around_1098161.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/shelagh-delaney-26477_eye_anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around_1098161.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/857/shelagh-delaney-26477_eye_anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around_1098161.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Anything's hard to find if you go around looking for it with your eyes shut.” — Shelagh Delaney", "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": "Shelagh Delaney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Anything's hard to find if you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around-looking-for-it-with-your/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/anything-s-hard-to-find-if-you-go-around-looking-for-it-with-your/#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 } } ] } ```