#iv

Trotsky rises to give me his hand, then sits at his desk, gently allowing his regard to light on my person. ↗

— Georges Simenon

#desk #gently #give #give me #hand

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

— Georg Simmel

#characterized #every #groups #individuals #involved

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. ↗

— Georg Simmel

#claim #culture #deepest #derive #existence

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

— Georg Simmel

#interaction #naturally #positive #relation #specific

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. ↗

— Georg Simmel

#constantly #culture #energies #entirety #grow

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

— Georg Simmel

#between #break #confession #gossip #men

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

— Georg Simmel

#cannot #exhausted #genuine #indifferent #individuality

Cities are, first of all, seats of the highest economic division of labor. ↗

— Georg Simmel

#division #economic #first #first of all #highest

For the division of labor demands from the individual an ever more one-sided accomplishment, and the greatest advance in a one-sided pursuit only too frequently means dearth to the personality of the individual. ↗

— Georg Simmel

#advance #dearth #demands #division #ever

For this reason, strangers are not really conceived as individuals, but as strangers of a particular type: the element of distance is no less general in regard to them than the element of nearness. ↗

— Georg Simmel

#distance #element #general #individuals #less