No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine. If a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friend's or of thine owne were. Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee...
John Donne,
from Meditation XVII
1624