Page:An Essay on Man - Pope (1751).pdf/11



Aving proposed to write some pieces on human life and manners, such as (to use my Lord expression) 'come home to men's business and bosoms,' I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering man in the abstract, his nature and his state: Since to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.

The science of human nature is, like all other sciences, reduced to a few clear points: There are not many certain truths in this world. It is therefore in the anatomy of the mind, as in that of the body, more good will accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and vessels as will for ever escape our observation. The disputes are all upon these last, and I will venture to say they have less sharpened the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and have diminished the practice more than advanced the theory of morality. If I could flatter myself that this essay has any merit, it is in steering betwixt doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming out of all, the temperate, yet not inconsistent, and a short, yet not imperfect system of ethics.