Every relationship between two individuals or two groups will be characterized by the ratio of secrecy that is involved in it. – Georg Simmel
Discretion is nothing other than the sense of justice with respect to the sphere of the intimate contents of life. – Georg Simmel
Judging from the ugly and repugnant things that are sometimes in vogue, it would seem as though fashion were desirous of exhibiting its power by getting us to adopt the most atrocious things for its sake alone. – Georg Simmel
In the latter case life rests upon a thousand presuppositions which the individual can never trace back to their origins, and verify but which he must accept upon faith and belief. – Georg Simmel
I usually write for the individual reader -though I would like to have many such readers. There are some poets who write for people assembled in big rooms, so they can live through something collectively. I prefer my reader to take my poem and have a one-on-one relationship with it. – Wislawa Szymborska