Origin
This famous idea comes to us from Meditation XVII by John Donne (1572-1631): “No man is an island, entire of itself…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.”
Explanation
No one is self-sufficient; everyone relies on others.Any individual human being, contrary to any antagonistic opinion he might be entitled to, cannot extricate himself from the rest of the living, breathing cosmic continuum and pretend to be complete of its own positionality, of the integrity of its stance. It is implausible for one man to grow and thrive in society without the love and affection of his fellow citizens. 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. The use of the island here is effective in tracing the loci of human life as bound with empty, endless seas (symbolic of trials, tribulations, perils, frustrations and suchlike) as well as in proximity to other islands. Man is born to live out his life in the companion ship of other men, exposing his perceptions and insights to the adversities of an unfamiliar world, which he is an integral part of, and which also appears within the microcosm of the individual.
Example
Indeed, no man is an island be it of knowledge or material needs. Even the animals walk, hunt and play in pairs.
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