John Donne wrote some of the most powerful words on community in the English language. He was recovering from a serious, near-fatal illness and wrote Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, Number XVII in his Book of Meditations. I have loved John Donne since I was a teenager and was introduced to his poetry, but his powerful prose trumps poetry in this essay. This is only a small portion of this wonderful essay, but most of you will recognize it.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.