--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Between my finger and my thumb The squat…" description: "\"“Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.”\" — Seamus Heaney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/seamus-heaney-1711_digging_between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat_451859.png" --- # Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug… ![“Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/seamus-heaney-1711_digging_between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat_451859.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/seamus-heaney-1711_digging_between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat_451859.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/seamus-heaney-1711_digging_between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat_451859.png) > ““Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.”” [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The pen is held tightly, like a weapon, emphasizing the power and responsibility of writing. **In simple terms:** Writing is powerful and deliberate. Key Takeaway Treat words with care. Themes responsibility power creativity Mood reflective serious Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - writing - public speaking - personal expression Key Concepts symbolism focus Questions to Reflect On - How does the metaphor affect your view of writing? - What responsibilities do you feel as a writer? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overstate danger, limiting creative freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. ~from the poem "Digging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat-pen-rests-snug-as-a-gun-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“The answer is three, I said as I held up three fingers—my middle through my pinky—and I formed a loop with my index finger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/the-answer-is-three-i-said-as-i-held-up-three-fingers-my-middle/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“...Thumbs understand the fingers better than the fingers understand the thumb. Sometimes the fingers feel sorry the thumb is not a finger. The thumb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/thumbs-understand-the-fingers-better-than-the-fingers-understand-the/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [I have 5 fingers for a reason. 1) the pinky is for promising and not breaking them. 2) ring finger for the men I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-5-fingers-for-a-reason-1-the-pinky-is-for-promising-and-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Did u know why the marrage ring is placed at the 4th finger from the thumb from the left had? BECAUSE ITS THE ONLY…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/did-u-know-why-the-marrage-ring-is-placed-at-the-4th-finger-from-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Put your middle finger and your thumb together. And make it snappy. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/put-your-middle-finger-and-your-thumb-together-and-make-it-snappy/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Dancing is really a way of working out and it can actually be fun. In dancing there might be a certain dance move that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teyana/dancing-is-really-a-way-of-working-out-and-it-can-actually-be-fun-in/) [Teyana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teyana/) > [Whenever I write lyrics, in the back of my mind I always see a guy driving to work, driving to a really bad job,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/whenever-i-write-lyrics-in-the-back-of-my-mind-i-always-see-a-guy/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [I find a fence a very uncomfortable place to squat my bottom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/i-find-a-fence-a-very-uncomfortable-place-to-squat-my-bottom/) [Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/) > [They rode on and the sun in the east flushed pale streaks of light and then a deeper run of color like blood seeping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-rode-on-and-the-sun-in-the-east-flushed-pale-streaks-of-light/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [My shape reminds me a lot of my grandmother, whom I was really close to. She died when I was 13, and we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/my-shape-reminds-me-a-lot-of-my-grandmother-whom-i-was-really-close/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [You're never going to see me drinking some protein shake and doing 20 squat thrusts. I will never follow suit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-collins/you-re-never-going-to-see-me-drinking-some-protein-shake-and-doing-20/) [Gemma Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-collins/) > [I just find it funny what people will comment on, I try to not pay that much attention to it, but the crazy part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khloe-kardashian/i-just-find-it-funny-what-people-will-comment-on-i-try-to-not-pay/) [Khloe Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khloe-kardashian/) > [Good thoughts not delivered mean squat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-blanchard/good-thoughts-not-delivered-mean-squat/) [Ken Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-blanchard/) > [For girls who want to get their waistline down a little bit and don't have any weights in the house, they can actually use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pepa/for-girls-who-want-to-get-their-waistline-down-a-little-bit-and-don-t/) [Pepa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pepa/) ## More by Seamus Heaney > [You had to come back to learn how to lose yourself, to be pilot and stray-witch, Hansel and Gretel in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-had-to-come-back-to-learn-how-to-lose-yourself-to-be-pilot-and/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/if-self-is-a-location-so-is-love-bearings-taken-markings-cardinal/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I'm very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination - poets in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-m-very-conscious-that-people-dear-to-me-are-alive-in-my-imagination/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/once-i-was-on-the-job-once-i-had-got-started-i-felt-safe-enough-but/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [You can have Irish identity in the north and also have your Irish passport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-can-have-irish-identity-in-the-north-and-also-have-your-irish/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [The external reality and inner dynamic of happenings in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1974 were symptomatic of change, violent change admittedly, but change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-external-reality-and-inner-dynamic-of-happenings-in-northern/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Hope for a great sea-change timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/hope-for-a-great-sea-change-timid-to-rebuke-and-too-petty-to-forgive/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [One of the very first poems I wrote was Docker That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic and one of the sturdiest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/one-of-the-very-first-poems-i-wrote-was-docker-that-fist-would-drop-a/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/poetry-is-always-slightly-mysterious-and-you-wonder-what-is-your/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure The bastion of sensation. Do not waver Into language. Do not waver in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/sink-every-impulse-like-a-bolt-secure-the-bastion-of-sensation-do-not/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Two buckets were easier carried than one. / I grew up in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/two-buckets-were-easier-carried-than-one-i-grew-up-in-between/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I suppose I'm saying that defiance is actually part of the lyric job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-suppose-i-m-saying-that-defiance-is-actually-part-of-the-lyric-job/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-said-that-once-upon-a-time-st-kevin-was-kneeling-with-his-arms/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [My father and mother had no sense of entitlement for their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/my-father-and-mother-had-no-sense-of-entitlement-for-their-children/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) [Explore all 214 Seamus Heaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## More Digging quotes > [Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-borland/some-people-are-like-ants-give-them-a-warm-day-and-a-piece-of-ground/) [Hal Borland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-borland/) > [In a delightful garden, sowing, planting or digging are not hardship but are done with a zeal and a certain pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/in-a-delightful-garden-sowing-planting-or-digging-are-not-hardship/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [In archaeology you uncover the unknown. In diplomacy you cover the known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-archaeology-you-uncover-the-unknown-in-diplomacy-you-cover-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought I knew a lot about music. Then you start digging and the deeper you go, the more there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mellencamp/i-thought-i-knew-a-lot-about-music-then-you-start-digging-and-the/) [John Mellencamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mellencamp/) > [From my image of digging around in the mud like a grunt, I preferred fighting the war from ships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haskell-wexler/from-my-image-of-digging-around-in-the-mud-like-a-grunt-i-preferred/) [Haskell Wexler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haskell-wexler/) > [When you consider the sheer magnitude of investable equities to choose from in the world's emerging markets, you realize that finding one that looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mobius/when-you-consider-the-sheer-magnitude-of-investable-equities-to/) [Mark Mobius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mobius/) > [I love the little garden in the back of my family's brownstone in Brooklyn. Digging out there in the dirt is a joy for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/i-love-the-little-garden-in-the-back-of-my-family-s-brownstone-in/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [ The Ancient One, as you know, is the master, is the Sorcerer Supreme, and \[Doctor\] Strange comes to learn how to heal himself and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tilda-swinton/the-ancient-one-as-you-know-is-the-master-is-the-sorcerer-supreme-and/) [Tilda Swinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tilda-swinton/) > [I wish I lived back in the Old West days, because I'd save up my money for about twenty years so I could buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/i-wish-i-lived-back-in-the-old-west-days-because-i-d-save-up-my-money/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [If you really want to be a good archaeologist, you have to understand ancient DNA; you have to understand chemical analysis to figure out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-parcak/if-you-really-want-to-be-a-good-archaeologist-you-have-to-understand/) [Sarah Parcak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-parcak/) > [I was a manual labourer. I figured out really early on that the value of my life could be determined by my hourly rate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-curtis/i-was-a-manual-labourer-i-figured-out-really-early-on-that-the-value/) [Cliff Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-curtis/) > [Archaeology, I found, comprehended all manner of excitement and achievement. Adventure is coupled with bookish toil. Romantic excursions go hand in hand with scholarly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/archaeology-i-found-comprehended-all-manner-of-excitement-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've never met a girl who thinks like you." "A lot of people tell me that," she said, digging at a cuticle. "But it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-ve-never-met-a-girl-who-thinks-like-you-a-lot-of-people-tell-me/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you don't break a hole through the brick wall, don't just start digging a new hole. Keep going until you break through that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-simmons/if-you-don-t-break-a-hole-through-the-brick-wall-don-t-just-start/) [Russell Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-simmons/) > [Keep digging, Flynn. Six feet makes a grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-monk/keep-digging-flynn-six-feet-makes-a-grave/) [Devon Monk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-monk/) Browse all 487 Digging quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seamus Heaney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat-pen-rests-snug-as-a-gun/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Digging" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat-pen-rests-snug-as-a-gun/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/seamus-heaney-1711_digging_between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat_451859.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/seamus-heaney-1711_digging_between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat_451859.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/268/seamus-heaney-1711_digging_between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat_451859.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.” — Seamus Heaney", "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": "Seamus Heaney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Between my finger and my thumb...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat-pen-rests-snug-as-a-gun/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/between-my-finger-and-my-thumb-the-squat-pen-rests-snug-as-a-gun/#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 } } ] } ```