The moving finger writes

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The moving finger writes

Meaning

Whatever one does in one's life is one's own responsibility and cannot be changed.

Origin

This line originates in Edward Fitzgerald's translation of the poem The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, 1859:

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.