Note 6 — INEBRIETY.
Reading edition
"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,
A Being darkly wise, and rudely great;
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between: in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;
In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in Ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little or too much;
Chaos of Thought and Passion; all confus'd;
Still by himself abus'd, or disabus'd:
Created half to rise, and half to fall,
Great Lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of Truth, in endless Error hurl'd;
The glory, jest, and riddle of the World!"
Pope's Essay on Man.—