--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Their lives ran in circles so small They…" description: "\"Their lives ran in circles so small They thought they'd seen it all\" — Michelle Shocked" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9c/michelle-shocked-15864_circles_their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they_2071356.png" --- # Their lives ran in circles so small They thought they'd… ![“Their lives ran in circles so small They thought they'd seen it all” quote by Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9c/michelle-shocked-15864_circles_their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they_2071356.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9c/michelle-shocked-15864_circles_their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they_2071356.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9c/michelle-shocked-15864_circles_their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they_2071356.png) > “Their lives ran in circles so small They thought they'd seen it all” [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The singer describes a life stuck in repetitive, limited cycles, feeling they have seen everything. **In simple terms:** Life feels repetitive and limited. Key Takeaway Break out of limiting patterns. Themes repetition limitation self‑awareness Mood reflective motivational Type personal inspirational When to use this quote - Career stagnation - creative blocks - relationship cycles - personal growth Key Concepts Existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What patterns keep you stuck? - How can you create new experiences? A Different Perspective The view may be overly pessimistic about change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Circles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circles/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) ## Related quotes > ["What the hell'd you let them break your spirit for?" You know, their lives ran in circles so small. Ah, they thought they'd seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/what-the-hell-d-you-let-them-break-your-spirit-for-you-know-their/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [“Downtown I saw people running around in circles. Some people tore their own heads off and ran around in circles with their heads in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-mellis/downtown-i-saw-people-running-around-in-circles-some-people-tore/) [Miranda Mellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-mellis/) > [It is a flat'ning Thought, that the more we have seen, the less we have to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/it-is-a-flat-ning-thought-that-the-more-we-have-seen-the-less-we-have/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Strange, i thought i knew you well, thought i had read the sky, thought i had seen a change in your eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/strange-i-thought-i-knew-you-well-thought-i-had-read-the-sky-thought/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [You never know what's going to happen to you when you head out into the big world. And when you get older, you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/you-never-know-what-s-going-to-happen-to-you-when-you-head-out-into/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [“He did not alarm her, for she thought she had seen him before in the faces of many women who have no children. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-barrie/he-did-not-alarm-her-for-she-thought-she-had-seen-him-before-in-the/) [J.M. Barrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-barrie/) > [I have thought that I have seen ghosts on many occasions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-caldwell/i-have-thought-that-i-have-seen-ghosts-on-many-occasions/) [Taylor Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-caldwell/) > [“I thought that to get to know a desert it was enough to have been there. I thought that to have seen the dogs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-g-le-cl-zio/i-thought-that-to-get-to-know-a-desert-it-was-enough-to-have-been/) [J.M.G. Le Clézio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-g-le-cl-zio/) > [“..Well, I did go. To Auschwitz. And the warning was correct. Not because I was not permitted to describe what I had seen, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-folsom/well-i-did-go-to-auschwitz-and-the-warning-was-correct-not-because-i/) Alan Folsom > [“She said something to you and you smiled and I thought to myself that I'd never seen anything so... I don't know... I'd never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kubica/she-said-something-to-you-and-you-smiled-and-i-thought-to-myself-that/) [Mary Kubica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kubica/) > [“I never said it was her and I thought I'd seen that look before. But every time a woman looks at me it feels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-rohmer/i-never-said-it-was-her-and-i-thought-i-d-seen-that-look-before-but/) [Éric Rohmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-rohmer/) > [ Beneath everything else, North and West, there ran a profound, unvoiced, almost subconscious conviction that the \[American\] nation was going to go on growing-in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/beneath-everything-else-north-and-west-there-ran-a-profound-unvoiced/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [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/) > [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/) > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More by Michelle Shocked > [They sign a bunch of women, and they call it a movement. I don't like the way women in music have been identified as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/they-sign-a-bunch-of-women-and-they-call-it-a-movement-i-don-t-like/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [My grandmother had a Miss Margaret's School of Dance to teach tap and ballet to kids, but I never studied it. I was raised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/my-grandmother-had-a-miss-margaret-s-school-of-dance-to-teach-tap-and/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [The secret to a long life is knowin' when it's time to go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/the-secret-to-a-long-life-is-knowin-when-it-s-time-to-go/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [As I look back over my life, before I had any real identity, I was a traveler. I grew up an Army brat, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/as-i-look-back-over-my-life-before-i-had-any-real-identity-i-was-a/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [The love that I pray every day is manifest through me. Not because I'm a loving person, but because the God that I serve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/the-love-that-i-pray-every-day-is-manifest-through-me-not-because-i-m/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [When I grow up I want to be an old woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/when-i-grow-up-i-want-to-be-an-old-woman/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [I walked along that slippery slope where if you fail through lack of faith, you sell your soul to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/i-walked-along-that-slippery-slope-where-if-you-fail-through-lack-of/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [Ideals are not something I can control. It's not logic that convinces me of something, it's what my heart says. My heart has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/ideals-are-not-something-i-can-control-it-s-not-logic-that-convinces/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [I'm passionate about two things: Jesus and liberation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/i-m-passionate-about-two-things-jesus-and-liberation/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > ["What the hell'd you let them break your spirit for?" You know, their lives ran in circles so small. Ah, they thought they'd seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/what-the-hell-d-you-let-them-break-your-spirit-for-you-know-their/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [If I'm going to be held captive by social media, I'm going to use it against itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/if-i-m-going-to-be-held-captive-by-social-media-i-m-going-to-use-it/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [Make your own music. It can be done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/make-your-own-music-it-can-be-done/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [Music is not a commodity, it's a resource.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/music-is-not-a-commodity-it-s-a-resource/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [I'm too shy, really to be able to hang out with my heroes for too long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/i-m-too-shy-really-to-be-able-to-hang-out-with-my-heroes-for-too-long/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [I resent like hell that I was maybe eighteen before I ever heard the 'L' word. It would have made all the difference for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/i-resent-like-hell-that-i-was-maybe-eighteen-before-i-ever-heard-the/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) [Explore all 41 Michelle Shocked quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) ## More Circles quotes > [In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like "charming" and "clever" and "pretty" are all put-downs; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/in-some-circles-where-very-heavy-people-think-they-have-very-heavy/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [Gambling has held human beings in thrall for millennia. It has been engaged in everywhere, from the dregs of society to the most respectable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-l-bernstein/gambling-has-held-human-beings-in-thrall-for-millennia-it-has-been/) [Peter L. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-l-bernstein/) > [And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/and-the-seasons-they-go-round-and-round-and-the-painted-ponies-go-up/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-for-instance-they-have-heard-something-from-the-postman-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Maybe this is a way of gaslighting myself, but I think of it this way: In certain circles, my grandpa was considered to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-kazan/maybe-this-is-a-way-of-gaslighting-myself-but-i-think-of-it-this-way/) [Zoe Kazan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-kazan/) > [All my life's a circle; But I can't tell you why; Season's spinning round again; The years keep rollin' by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-chapin/all-my-life-s-a-circle-but-i-can-t-tell-you-why-season-s-spinning/) [Harry Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-chapin/) > [There's when a phrase circles in my head in a number of ways for any number of days, weeks, or months, and then that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mangan/there-s-when-a-phrase-circles-in-my-head-in-a-number-of-ways-for-any/) [Dan Mangan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mangan/) > [I have no name for what circles so perfectly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-have-no-name-for-what-circles-so-perfectly/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [It's important to recognize that expanding the circle of opportunity and increasing the democratic potential of our own society, as well as those across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/it-s-important-to-recognize-that-expanding-the-circle-of-opportunity/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [The fight against syphilis demands a fight against prostitution, against prejudices, old habits, against previous conceptions, general views among them not least the false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-fight-against-syphilis-demands-a-fight-against-prostitution/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Tell them you came, and saw, and looked into my eyes and saw the shadow of the guard receding. Thoughts in time and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/tell-them-you-came-and-saw-and-looked-into-my-eyes-and-saw-the-shadow/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [ \[Wise men\] have tried to understand our state of being, by grasping at its stars, or its arts, or its economics. But, if there… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/wise-men-have-tried-to-understand-our-state-of-being-by-grasping-at/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [You know Kim Jong Un, the evil dictator of North Korea? Apparently, a guy in his inner circle used his ashtray while smoking and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/you-know-kim-jong-un-the-evil-dictator-of-north-korea-apparently-a/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [The Brick House was one of the toughest joints I ever played in ... Guys would drink and fight one another like circle saws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-armstrong/the-brick-house-was-one-of-the-toughest-joints-i-ever-played-in-guys/) [Louis Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-armstrong/) [Browse all 1,860 Circles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circles/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Their lives ran in circles so small They thought they'd seen it all", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michelle Shocked" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they-thought-they-d-seen-it-all/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Circles" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they-thought-they-d-seen-it-all/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9c/michelle-shocked-15864_circles_their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they_2071356.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9c/michelle-shocked-15864_circles_their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they_2071356.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9c/michelle-shocked-15864_circles_their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they_2071356.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Their lives ran in circles so small They thought they'd seen it all” — Michelle Shocked", "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": "Michelle Shocked", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Their lives ran in circles so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they-thought-they-d-seen-it-all/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/their-lives-ran-in-circles-so-small-they-thought-they-d-seen-it-all/#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 } } ] } ```