--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Holding occasion by the hand, Not over…" description: "\"Holding occasion by the hand, Not over nice 'twixt weed and flower, Waiving what none can understand, I make mine hour.\" — John Vance Cheney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/john-vance-cheney-40254_flower_holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-ni_1755559.jpg" --- # Holding occasion by the hand, Not over nice 'twixt weed… ![“Holding occasion by the hand, Not over nice 'twixt weed and flower, Waiving what none can understand, I make mine hour.” quote by John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/john-vance-cheney-40254_flower_holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-ni_1755559.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/john-vance-cheney-40254_flower_holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-ni_1755559.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/john-vance-cheney-40254_flower_holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-ni_1755559.jpg) > “Holding occasion by the hand, Not over nice 'twixt weed and flower, Waiving what none can understand, I make mine hour.” [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Embracing fleeting moments, even amidst contradictions, creates personal meaning beyond rational understanding. **In simple terms:** Savor paradoxical moments. Key Takeaway Find meaning in the moment. Themes impermanence paradox mindfulness Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - daily rituals - travel experiences - art appreciation Key Concepts existential reflection poetic insight Questions to Reflect On - What paradoxical moments have shaped you? - How do you find purpose in uncertainty? A Different Perspective Seeking meaning may cause frustration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Occasions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occasions/) [Opportunity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opportunity/) ## Related quotes > [Social media, to me, has got out of hand. 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A fig! 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/virtue-a-fig-tis-in-ourselves-that-we-are-thus-or-thus-our-bodies-are/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself, and where they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/penalties-against-possession-of-a-drug-should-not-be-more-damaging-to/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [I roll with Ladies just as tropic as the chronic in my pocket Cop it, Crush it, Roll it, Spark it, and mix it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-banks/i-roll-with-ladies-just-as-tropic-as-the-chronic-in-my-pocket-cop-it/) [Lloyd Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-banks/) > [As time goes by, you seem to weed out the things that were making your life hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-petty/as-time-goes-by-you-seem-to-weed-out-the-things-that-were-making-your/) [Tom Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-petty/) > [Regulations grow at the same rate as weeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-ralph-augustine/regulations-grow-at-the-same-rate-as-weeds/) [Norman Ralph Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-ralph-augustine/) > [Hungry, Happy, Sleepy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hungry-happy-sleepy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don't plant your days they turn into weeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/don-t-plant-your-days-they-turn-into-weeds/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [The only thing wrong with weed is getting caught with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-thing-wrong-with-weed-is-getting-caught-with-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All of your brain cells rotting from weed, feeling like if you ain’t got it life’s not as complete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hopsin/all-of-your-brain-cells-rotting-from-weed-feeling-like-if-you-ain-t/) [Hopsin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hopsin/) ## More by John Vance Cheney > [The message from the hedge-leaves, Heed it, whoso thou art; Under lowly eaves Lives the happy heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/the-message-from-the-hedge-leaves-heed-it-whoso-thou-art-under-lowly/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [I pour into the world the eternal streams Wan prophets tent beside, and dream their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/i-pour-into-the-world-the-eternal-streams-wan-prophets-tent-beside/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears. \[So when you are crying remember also to anticipate and look for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/the-soul-would-have-no-rainbow-had-the-eyes-no-tears-so-when-you-are/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [A breath, whence no man knows, Swaying the grating weeds, it blows; It comes, it grieves, it goes. Once it rocked the summer rose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/a-breath-whence-no-man-knows-swaying-the-grating-weeds-it-blows-it/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [The happiest heart that ever beat Was in some quiet breast That found the common daylight sweet, And left to Heaven the rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/the-happiest-heart-that-ever-beat-was-in-some-quiet-breast-that-found/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [The wind is awake, pretty leave, pretty leaves, Heed not what he says, he deceives, he deceives; Over and over To the lowly clover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/the-wind-is-awake-pretty-leave-pretty-leaves-heed-not-what-he-says-he/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [If so men's memories not a monument be, None shalt thou have. Warm hearts, and not cold stone, Must mark thy grave, or thou…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/if-so-men-s-memories-not-a-monument-be-none-shalt-thou-have-warm/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [No command of art, No toil, can help you hear; Earth's minstrelsy falls clear But on the listening heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/no-command-of-art-no-toil-can-help-you-hear-earth-s-minstrelsy-falls/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [I question not if thrushes sing, If roses load the air; Beyond my heart I need not reach When all is summer there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/i-question-not-if-thrushes-sing-if-roses-load-the-air-beyond-my-heart/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) > [The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/the-soul-would-have-no-rainbow-had-the-eyes-no-tears/) [John Vance Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) [Explore all 11 John Vance Cheney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/) ## More Flower quotes > [“It is not the force of the wind, but the depth of the roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-is-not-the-force-of-the-wind-but-the-depth-of-the-roots/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Most girls get flowers or candy. I get a declaration of martial law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-shearin/most-girls-get-flowers-or-candy-i-get-a-declaration-of-martial-law/) [Lisa Shearin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-shearin/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Spring training means flowers, people coming outdoors, sunshine, optimism and baseball. Spring training is a time to think about being young again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-banks/spring-training-means-flowers-people-coming-outdoors-sunshine/) [Ernie Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-banks/) > [Sometimes, sometimes it is really difficult to turn and walk away from someone you have loved and cherished for so long. You know deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kreger/sometimes-sometimes-it-is-really-difficult-to-turn-and-walk-away-from/) [David Kreger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kreger/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [A garden has a curious innocent way of consuming cash while all the time you are under the illusion that you are spending nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-meynell/a-garden-has-a-curious-innocent-way-of-consuming-cash-while-all-the/) [Esther Meynell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-meynell/) > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-connell/my-days-the-blossom-of-my-youth-and-the-flower-of-my-manhood-have/) [Daniel O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-connell/) > [My life is a crystal teardrop. There are snowflakes falling in the teardrop and little figures trudging in slow motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-baez/my-life-is-a-crystal-teardrop-there-are-snowflakes-falling-in-the/) [Joan Baez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-baez/) > [“But any picture could deal with the problem of light. The problem with this picture is greater than that of reflective surfaces - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-otto/but-any-picture-could-deal-with-the-problem-of-light-the-problem-with/) [Whitney Otto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-otto/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) [Browse all 12,347 Flower quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Holding occasion by the hand, Not over nice 'twixt weed and flower, Waiving what none can understand, I make mine hour.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Vance Cheney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-nice-twixt-weed-and-flower/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flower" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-nice-twixt-weed-and-flower/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/john-vance-cheney-40254_flower_holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-ni_1755559.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/john-vance-cheney-40254_flower_holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-ni_1755559.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5e/john-vance-cheney-40254_flower_holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-ni_1755559.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Holding occasion by the hand, Not over nice 'twixt weed and flower, Waiving what none can understand, I make…” — John Vance Cheney", "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": "John Vance Cheney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-vance-cheney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Holding occasion by the hand, Not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-nice-twixt-weed-and-flower/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-vance-cheney/holding-occasion-by-the-hand-not-over-nice-twixt-weed-and-flower/#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 } } ] } ```