Georg Simmel

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.

Money is the purest reification of means, the most absolute instrument.

The essence of modernity is the dissolution of the substantial into the functional.

The individual is not only a member of society, but also a being who stands over against society.

The secret of the metropolis is that it is a place where the individual is both free and isolated.

The more highly developed a culture, the more it tends to objectify and externalize its products.

The tragedy of culture lies in the fact that the objective spirit, once created, becomes alienated from the subjective spirit that created it.

Fashion is the imitation of a given example and satisfies the demand for social adaptation; it also satisfies the need for differentiation, the tendency toward dissimilarity, the desire for change and individual distinction.

The stranger is not conceived as a wanderer who comes today and goes tomorrow, but rather as the person who comes today and stays tomorrow.

The essence of money is that it is a pure means, a pure form, without any intrinsic value.

The city is the seat of the most intense objectification of culture.

The more money becomes the sole measure of value, the more it transforms all qualitative differences into quantitative ones.

The individual's freedom in the metropolis is not a freedom from society, but a freedom within society.

The most profound problems of modern life are those that arise from the attempt to maintain the autonomy and individuality of existence in the face of the overwhelming power of society.

The value of an object is not inherent in the object itself, but is conferred upon it by human desire and evaluation.

The essence of social life is interaction.

The blasé attitude is the subjective reflection of the objective leveling of all things by money.

The tragedy of the modern individual is that he is forced to live in a world of his own making, but one that he no longer understands or controls.

The more complex society becomes, the more it relies on abstract forms of interaction, such as money.

The individual is both a product of society and a creator of society.