--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All my life I had known one thing for…" description: "\"“All my life I had known one thing for sure about myself, and that was that my life would never be her life. I had moved as far and as fast as I could;..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1f/anna-quindlen-467_life_all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-su_3212166.png" --- # All my life I had known one thing for sure about myself… ![“All my life I had known one thing for sure about myself, and that was that my life would never be her life. I had moved as far and as fast as I could; now I was back at my beginning.” quote by Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1f/anna-quindlen-467_life_all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-su_3212166.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1f/anna-quindlen-467_life_all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-su_3212166.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1f/anna-quindlen-467_life_all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-su_3212166.png) > ““All my life I had known one thing for sure about myself, and that was that my life would never be her life. I had moved as far and as fast as I could; now I was back at my beginning.”” [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels stuck in a past identity, realizing that despite effort, she returns to her origins, highlighting personal stagnation. **In simple terms:** She returns to her starting point despite moving fast. Key Takeaway Recognize patterns that keep you from growth. Themes identity stagnation self‑reflection Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career change - relationship patterns - self‑help journeys - creative projects Key Concepts Life cycles personal narrative Questions to Reflect On - What patterns keep you returning to old selves? - How can you break the cycle? A Different Perspective May ignore external factors influencing the return. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-known-774329/) [Life life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-life/) [Life Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-moved-726649/) [Moved Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moved-far-4985662/) [Sure Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sure-life-1365715/) ## Related quotes > [It's my belief that, since the end of the Second World War, psychology has moved too far away from its original roots, which were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/it-s-my-belief-that-since-the-end-of-the-second-world-war-psychology/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [Do I wish I could retire? Sure, but that's not life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carnie-wilson/do-i-wish-i-could-retire-sure-but-that-s-not-life/) [Carnie Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carnie-wilson/) > [“Sure as Life holds all parts together, Death holds all parts together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/sure-as-life-holds-all-parts-together-death-holds-all-parts-together/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [One thing always sure. Life go on with you or without you, no matter how much you seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lalita-tademy/one-thing-always-sure-life-go-on-with-you-or-without-you-no-matter/) [Lalita Tademy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lalita-tademy/) > [Sure life's good it really is, I just wish I could have that one thing but only God knows why I can't have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sure-life-s-good-it-really-is-i-just-wish-i-could-have-that-one-thing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“How can you be so sure that your life is the one that's charmed?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/how-can-you-be-so-sure-that-your-life-is-the-one-that-s-charmed/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“I'm going to be a star some day," she announced as though daring him to contradict her. "I'm sure you..." "It's my life. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-west/i-m-going-to-be-a-star-some-day-she-announced-as-though-daring-him-to/) [Nathanael West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-west/) > [“I wasn't sure where my life was headed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kalanithi/i-wasn-t-sure-where-my-life-was-headed/) [Paul Kalanithi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kalanithi/) > [“And he was her one true person, settled and sure, for life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/and-he-was-her-one-true-person-settled-and-sure-for-life/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [Dont trust no one until you sure they are the one for you in your life...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenchqueen/dont-trust-no-one-until-you-sure-they-are-the-one-for-you-in-your-life/) [FRENCHQUEEN](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frenchqueen/) > [To be sure your life will be full and abundant, you must plan your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/to-be-sure-your-life-will-be-full-and-abundant-you-must-plan-your-life/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [“The gears of life had moved ahead a notch with a loud ker-chunk, and Junpei knew that they would never turn back again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-gears-of-life-had-moved-ahead-a-notch-with-a-loud-ker-chunk-and/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Life moved in circles. Such was the path. What came would come again, breath to breath, until each riddled out the truth within. War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-galford/life-moved-in-circles-such-was-the-path-what-came-would-come-again/) [Chris Galford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-galford/) > [“Because while you wait for somebody to come around to make things right, life has already moved on without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augesten-burroughs/because-while-you-wait-for-somebody-to-come-around-to-make-things/) [Augesten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augesten-burroughs/) > [I always dreamed of making it in baseball, but life has moved pretty quickly for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-trout/i-always-dreamed-of-making-it-in-baseball-but-life-has-moved-pretty/) [Mike Trout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-trout/) ## More by Anna Quindlen > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Trying to be perfect may be inevitable for people who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world and its good opinion...What is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/trying-to-be-perfect-may-be-inevitable-for-people-who-are-smart-and/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Sometimes change came all at once, with a sound like a fire taking hold of dry wood and paper, with a roar that rose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/sometimes-change-came-all-at-once-with-a-sound-like-a-fire-taking/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Loss as muse. Loss as character. Loss as life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/loss-as-muse-loss-as-character-loss-as-life/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [knowledge of our own mortality is the greatest gift God ever gives us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/knowledge-of-our-own-mortality-is-the-greatest-gift-god-ever-gives-us/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [You teach your 16-year-old with your heart in your mouth to be a good driver and none of that makes any difference when some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/you-teach-your-16-year-old-with-your-heart-in-your-mouth-to-be-a-good/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Every reader, I suspect, has a book like this somewhere in his or her past, a book that seemed to hold within it, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/every-reader-i-suspect-has-a-book-like-this-somewhere-in-his-or-her/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“I’ve finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-ve-finally-recognized-my-body-for-what-it-is-a-personality-delivery/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [A man who builds his own pedestal had better use strong cement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/a-man-who-builds-his-own-pedestal-had-better-use-strong-cement/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“In England I am always madam; I arrived too late to ever be a miss. In New York I have only been madamed once,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/in-england-i-am-always-madam-i-arrived-too-late-to-ever-be-a-miss-in/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [“Yet there was always in me, even when I was very small, the sense that I ought to be somewhere else. And wander I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/yet-there-was-always-in-me-even-when-i-was-very-small-the-sense-that/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I can't think of a single downside to motherhood now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-can-t-think-of-a-single-downside-to-motherhood-now/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It would take a helluva man to replace no man at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/it-would-take-a-helluva-man-to-replace-no-man-at-all/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Not writing at all leads to nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/not-writing-at-all-leads-to-nothing/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Reading has always been my home, my sustenance, my great invincible companion. "Book love," Trollope called it. "It will make your hours pleasant to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/reading-has-always-been-my-home-my-sustenance-my-great-invincible/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) [Explore all 538 Anna Quindlen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“All my life I had known one thing for sure about myself, and that was that my life would never be her life. I had moved as far and as fast as I could; now I was back at my beginning.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anna Quindlen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-sure-about-myself-and-that-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-sure-about-myself-and-that-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1f/anna-quindlen-467_life_all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-su_3212166.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1f/anna-quindlen-467_life_all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-su_3212166.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1f/anna-quindlen-467_life_all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-su_3212166.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All my life I had known one thing for sure about myself, and that was that my life would never be her life…” — Anna Quindlen", "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": "Anna Quindlen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“All my life I had known...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-sure-about-myself-and-that-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/all-my-life-i-had-known-one-thing-for-sure-about-myself-and-that-was/#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 } } ] } ```