“ On human actions reason though you can, It may be reason, but it is not man ”
Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man (1734). copy citation
| Author | Alexander Pope |
|---|---|
| Source | An Essay on Man |
| Topic | action reason |
| Date | 1734 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2428/2428-h/2428-h.htm |
Context
“Next, that he varies from himself no less: Add Nature's, custom's reason's passion's strife, And all opinion's colours cast on life. Our depths who fathoms, or our shallows finds, Quick whirls, and shifting eddies, of our minds? On human actions reason though you can, It may be reason, but it is not man: His principle of action once explore, That instant 'tis his principle no more. Like following life through creatures you dissect, You lose it in the moment you detect. Yet more; the difference is as great between The optics seeing, as the object seen.”
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