h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I come from an island. I now live in Central Europe. I follow the international news and think the world is a village. What is happening in America affects me deeply although I'm thousands of miles away. Pain brought home by harrowing, close-up news film coverage is not distant, but immediate. One of my favourite poets expressed it much better:

'No man is an island. entire of itself; every man 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 promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.'

It's certainly tolling for the civilised world at the moment.

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John Donne, right? Thank you for posting this. I was trying to remember it just last night.. Very appropriate.

And welcome to h2g2

BTW, you might want to visit the discussions at h2g2s Talking Point page...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A630163

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, it is John Donne, an excerpt from Meditation 17 in the 'Devotions upon Ermergent Occasions', and very suited to this particular emergent crisis. It's been floating around in the back of my mind as well since all this horror broke in on us.