I'm only thinking of this because it's the shortest thing I assigned so my students have used it a lot, but you could reference Donne's Meditation XVII.
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.
Yes, I realize that's not the entire meditation, and is in fact the cheesiest, least insightful part, but it's the part people remember and talk about, so go figure.
You could just pretend you said it. "You know, I've been thinking lately how any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. I wrote that in my journal."
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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.
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