Secrecy involves a tension which, at the moment of revelation, finds its release.
Georg SimmelRead
In order to accommodate to change and to the contrast of phenomena, the intellect does not require any shocks and inner upheavals; it is only through such upheavals that the more conservative mind could accommodate to the metropolitan rhythm of events.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Change is often difficult, but it requires an adaptable mind that can embrace new circumstances without constant inner turmoil.
Georg Simmel suggests that while the intellect can adjust to change, it does not necessarily need to experience turmoil or upheaval. However, for those with more traditional or conservative perspectives, such inner challenges may be vital to adapt and understand the fast-paced and ever-evolving nature of contemporary life.
Themes
ChangeIntellectAdaptationUpheavalConservatism
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during a seminar on personal development to emphasize the importance of adaptability.
More from Georg Simmel
All quotes →Secrecy is thus, so to speak, a transition stadium between being and not-being.
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Music and love are the only accomplishments of humanity which do not, in an absolute sense, have to be called attempts with unsuitable means.
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Discretion is nothing other than the sense of justice with respect to the sphere of the intimate contents of life.
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In the immediate as well as the symbolic sense, in the physical as well as the intellectual sense, we are at any moment those who separate the connected, or connect the separate.
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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.
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