NO MAN IS AN ISLAND

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 a 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.

A human being when isolated from others does not thrive. Man is born to live his life with others, he cannot grow in isolation. Donne feels that all mankind is of one author, and is one book. Thus, death of a man doesn’t mean an end of a chapter in the book; it means that the chapter is translated into a better language: "[...] all mankind is of one author and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language [...]

Likening the isolated and insular man to an island, Donne insists how the individual is but a component of the larger mass of humanity, the “continent”, and can only exist in conjunction with the world outside.

Furthermore man is a social animal, we do not see it, but what happens to one person happens to everyone. Each person’s existence affects the existence of another person. Thus, an existence of a person not only affects himself but it also affects those living with him. There is no such thing as a wholly isolated individual.