From Alexander Pope: An Essay on Man, Epistle Two

1 Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
2 The proper study of mankind is man.
3 Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,
4 A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
5 With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
6 With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,
7 He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
8 In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;
9 In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
10 Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
11 Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
12 Whether he thinks too little, or too much:
13 Chaos of thought and passion, all confus'd;
14 Still by himself abus'd, or disabus'd;
15 Created half to rise, and half to fall;
16 Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
17 Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd:
18 The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!