Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground:
Another race the following spring supplies;
They fall successive, and successive rise.
Iliad, Bk. VI. HOMER. Trans. of POPE.
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
* * * * *
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!
Essay on Man, Epistle II. A. POPE.
MANNERS.
Those graceful acts,
Those thousand decencies that daily flow
From all her words and actions.
Paradise Lost, Bk. VIII. MILTON.
Of manners gentle, of affections mild;
In wit a man, simplicity a child.
* * * * *
A safe companion and an easy friend
Unblamed through life, lamented in thy end.
Epitaph on Gay. A. POPE.
Her air, her manners, all who saw admired;
Courteous though coy, and gentle though retired:
The joy of youth and health her eyes displayed,
And ease of heart her every look conveyed.
Parish Register, Pt. II. G. CRABBE.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE.
What would you have? your gentleness shall force
More than your force move us to gentleness.
As You Like It, Act ii. Sc. 7. SHAKESPEARE.