Know
Thyself
by Alexander
Pope
|
| Know then thyself, presume not
God to scan; |
| The proper study of mankind is
Man. |
| Placed 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 reasoning
but to err; |
| Alike in ignorance, his reason
such |
| Whether he thinks too little or
too much: |
| Chaos of thought and passion, all
confused; |
| Still by himself abused, or
disabused; |
| 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 hurled: |
The glory, jest, and riddle of
the world!
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| Alexander Pope
| Classic Poems |
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[ A Little Learning ] [ Know Thyself ] [ Elegy To the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady ] [ The Rape of the Lock Canto 1 ] [ The Dunciad Book the First ] [ Ode on Solitude ] |
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