I do not want the nearest human house to be too distant to see; that is my objection to the wilderness.

But neither do I want the nearest human house to be too close to see; that is my objection to the modern city.

I love my fellow-man; I do not want him so far off that I can only observe anything of him through a telescope, nor do I want him so close that I can examine parts of him with a microscope.

I want him within a stone's throw of me; so that whenever it is really necessary, I may throw the stone.

...

Perhaps, after all, it may not be a stone.

Perhaps, after all, it may be a bouquet, or a snowball, or a firework, or a Free Trade Loaf; perhaps they will ask for a stone and I shall give them bread.

But it is essential that they should be within reach: how can I love my neighbour as myself if he gets out of range for snowballs?

-- G. K. Chesterton, Alarms and Discursions