"Placed on the Isthmus (land between two bodies of water) 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;" Epistle II, very beginning
I thought this was an interesting quote and decided, in my own way, to sketch it above. I think when Pope says too much to knowledge for a skeptic refers to the fact that humans possess enough proof of God existence to ever question its validity. While on the other hand, Stoicism emphasizes the use of reason to attain Logos or cosmic wisdom which Pope says humans cannot attain because of their weakness to correctly use reason for this purpose. The Stoic ideal was to absolve oneself from passions in order to attain a state of harmony with nature and the universe by showing no emotion to pleasure, pain or personal gain and loss. Pope emphasizes in his second epistle the need for both reason and self-love seen as passion in man.
Pope explains a need for passions at the end of the epistle: "To these we owe true friendship, love sincere, Each home-felt joy that life inherits here;"
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