Georg Simmel Quotes & Sayings (Page 3)

“The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life.”

“The individual has become a mere cog in an enormous organization of things and powers which tear from his hands all progress, spirituality, and value in order to transform them from their subjective form into the form of a purely objective life.”

“Modern culture is constantly growing more objective. Its tissues grow more and more out of impersonal energies, and absorb less and less the subjective entirety of the individual.”

“Discretion is nothing other than the sense of justice with respect to the sphere of the intimate contents of life.”

“Secrecy sets barriers between men, but at the same time offers the seductive temptation to break through the barriers by gossip or confession.”

“Every relationship between two individuals or two groups will be characterized by the ratio of secrecy that is involved in it.”

“Secrecy involves a tension which, at the moment of revelation, finds its release.”

“For, to be a stranger is naturally a very positive relation; it is a specific form of interaction.”

“The intellectually sophisticated person is indifferent to all genuine individuality, because relationships and reactions result from it which cannot be exhausted with logical operations.”

“The psychological basis of the metropolitan type of individuality consists in the intensification of nervous stimulation which results from the swift and uninterrupted change of outer and inner stimuli.”