For Whom The Bell Tolls

Yesterday I was going to start reading Hemingway's masterpiece For Whom The Bell Tolls which I received this Christmas. Truth be told I've only read two pages. This happened not because the book is poor or boring but because of the powerful quote chosen by Hemingway to start the narrative. It is actually a poem from John Donne.

"No man is an Island, 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 friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."

This thing blew my mind away. By reading this poem I have regained part of my love and hope for mankind. We really are one. We are a group. A group whose individuals could not live only by themselves. A group capable of achieving great things. But then I remember how the world really really works and all these happy thoughts vanish. At least I had them for some moments.