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 any manner of thy friends 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.
-- John Donne
Any man's death diminishes me, because their agenthood and qualia are probabilistically similar to mine, and it would not have taken many counterfactual changes for me to be not at all unlike that man, compared to a babyeater, whose pain bothers me less. Thus altruism is found in the egoist, to an extent.
This is our monthly thread for collecting these little gems and pearls of wisdom, rationality-related quotes you've seen recently, or had stored in your quotesfile for ages, and which might be handy to link to in one of our discussions.